Posted on 04/21/2003 8:06:25 AM PDT by SolidSupplySide
TEMPLE -- A Bell County man remained in police custody Sunday evening as authorities investigated the discovery of an explosive device at a Temple mall.
Colonial Mall-Temple was evacuated early Saturday after a package discovered outside a Dillard's store was reported to Temple police, who said it appeared to be a explosive device.
Personnel from Fort Hood took control of the device, and experts confirmed it was an explosive.
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Agent Mark Curtin declined to describe the device.
Authorities identified a suspect, who was spotted at a rest stop near Salado on Saturday afternoon.
He sped away in a Chevrolet Blazer, striking a Bell County Sheriff's Office vehicle. During the pursuit, the Blazer also collided with the unmarked Temple police car, causing it to spin and the Blazer to roll.
The man and an officer were treated at Scott & White Hospital in Temple for minor injuries.
The wreck shut down a portion of Interstate 35 for about four hours on Saturday night.
The man was arrested and faces federal explosives charges, Curtin said.
What's his name?
For sure - if it was an Islamic guy, you just have to know that they would ignore the PC Bulls*** and state it plainly...<\sarcasm>
That would be the first time a ROT type perpetrated violence against anyone but law enforcement coming to raid their West Texas campsite.
I doubt it is a ROT clown. My money is on a crazed loner.
Can't argue with the crazed loner type. But I'm still guessing he's got ROT-type sympathies. We'll see....
Exactly.
Maybe the guy is French?
Authorities may want to check if the guy is on International A.N.S.W.E.R.'s mailing list.
Today is San Jacinto Day, which is the anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto, the turning point of the Texan fight for independence from Mexico. On the other hand, it's been my observation that the (liberal) media tends to put "white male" in a story when it's a white male, and they don't put any ethnic identification when it's an Islamic male or Black male and the situation is terror-related.
We probably won't hear anything more about it.
How do they know the SUV didn't plant the bomb?
Hmmm? No name or description given? if he was white it surely would have stated so in the article. He's more than likely and adherent of the "religion of peace".
http://www.temple-telegram.com/archives/2003/n0420.htmSunday, April 20, 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Explosive device at mall: Chase on Interstate 35 ends with rollover, arrest of suspect on federal explosives charge
The discovery of an explosive device at Colonial Mall-Temple on Saturday morning led to the arrest of a Bell County man on Interstate 35 south of Salado on Saturday night. A Temple police officer, injured when his vehicle was rammed by the suspect’s black Chevrolet Blazer, was treated for minor injuries at an area hospital. After striking the patrol car, about 5:30 p.m., the Blazer rolled several times.The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Texas Department of Public Safety, Bell County Sheriff’s Office, Temple police, Killeen police and Fort Hood Explosive Ordinance Detachment were involved in the investigation and apprehension of the suspect, said Mark Curtin, ATF agent with the Austin field office.
Authorities closed down both northbound and southbound traffic on the interstate for several hours, due to concerns of the vehicle containing explosives, Curtin said. Fort Hood EOD verified two suspect packages at the scene of the collision did not contain explosives. Officers were clearing the area about 9:15 p.m.
The suspect faces federal explosives charges, Curtin said, under a law against the possession of an unregistered destructive device. Curtin did not want to describe the device. A package was discovered outside Dillard’s at the mall and reported to Temple police about 8:30 a.m.
By LARRY CAUSEY
Morning bomb find results in evening snarl on I-35
By MIKE ANDERSON Tribune-Herald staff writerAuthorities evacuated Temple's Colonial Mall and nearby streets Saturday morning after officers found an explosive device in the area.
Hours later, authorities closed Interstate 35 in Bell County after a man suspected in the case wrecked his Chevrolet Blazer while fleeing police.
Officers held traffic back out of concern the truck might contain explosives, though none was found.
Earlier in the day, however, explosives experts removed the device from Colonial Mall without it exploding, said Mark Curtin, a spokesman with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The daylong drama in Bell County began about 8:20 a.m. when an employee at the mall's Dillard's store reported a suspicious package outside, Curtin said.
Temple police officers examined the package and, concerned it appeared to be a bomb, contacted the ATF and an explosives unit out of Fort Hood, he said.
The Fort Hood team defused the device, at which point experts determined it was, indeed, an explosive, Curtin said.
During the afternoon, investigators got a lead in the case, giving them the name of a male suspect and a description of the Blazer, he said. Around 5, a lawman spotted the Blazer at a rest stop near Salado.
About the same time, the suspect spotted yet another police car at the rest stop, this one not involved in the investigation. As the suspect pulled his vehicle onto the interstate, it struck a Bell County Sheriff's department car, Curtin said.
Following a short high-speed pursuit south on I-35, the Blazer struck an unmarked police car and rolled over, he said.
The Blazer's driver was arrested by federal authorities, Curtin said.
Both suspect and the officer in the unmarked police car were taken to Scott & White Hospital in Temple, where their injuries were described as minor.
Curtin said that while the incident happened on the anniversaries of the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City and the fiery end to the standoff at Mount Carmel in 1993, it did not appear related to either event.
Neither was it believed connected to President Bush's visit to Central Texas, he said.
Authorities released little information about the man Saturday, other than he is a Bell County resident.
The wreck shut down I-35 for nearly four hours, causing a traffic snarl of stopped vehicles for miles in each direction. Some of those caught in traffic called friends and family to try verifying rumors they heard from other drivers who had walked up to the wreck scene.
"My daughter was heading back to school in Austin and she called us because she had been sitting there for two hours, wondering what was going on," Plano resident Steve Spiwak said as the incident was happening.
"She had heard all sorts of things like there had been an explosion, there had been officers killed, and we were getting worried because we didn't know if she should try to get out of there," he said.
Authorities began reopening the interstate shortly after 9 p.m.
Mike Anderson can be reached at manderson@wacotrib.com or at 757-5755.
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