This is one crazy story:

A pizza delivery man told police he had been forced to rob a bank and asked authorities to help him minutes before a bomb strapped to his chest exploded and killed him.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/08/30/bank.robbery.explosion.ap/index.html

Wow.

:eek2:

That is some crazy stuff

:eek:

^Ditto^ times a thousand

That was crazy, but sorta sad at the same time! Anyway...even though it is on CNN.com, my brain was saying "no, that's not true, things like that haven't and will never happen"...but now my brain is taking it in :p.

just shows you can not ask for help in the USA from a police office/fbi agent.

"Why is nobody trying to come get this thing off me?" he asked.

Wow, I think that about sums it up. Incompetent police officers or what? Whether he tried to rob a bank or not, you don't just leave a bomb on the guy and let him blow up. :eek:

Originally posted by cheaphost
just shows you can not ask for help in the USA from a police office/fbi agent.
No, shows that they no there limits. What would be the good of a cop trying to defuse the bomb?

Makes you wonder why would people risk their lives to deliver pizza - I've heard other horror stories about pizza deliveries but this one tops any Hollywood movie.

Originally posted by Phrozen
Wow, I think that about sums it up. Incompetent police officers or what? Whether he tried to rob a bank or not, you don't just leave a bomb on the guy and let him blow up. :eek:
They were waiting for the bomb squad to arrive.

Ya its not the cops fault, they are/were not trained in defusing the bomb, that is what the bomb squad does.

That's one of the strangest things they've ever come across I'd bet. There's not a whole lot of training to deal with innocent people who get lured to remote areas delivering pizza, and get a bomb strapped to them, etc. Certainly one to add to the training materials...

If he was innocent (and didn't do this to himself), then my condolences to the family and friends of the victim. It's an odd story, but it could have happened the way he told it, and no one might find out differently.

Just goes to show that no matter what your personal problems are, there's always someone else having a far worse day than you.

One of the strangest stories I've heard. Have to feel sorry for the guy.

Was the bomb rigged to go off if he took it off? (I didn't see that in the article, but I'm ignorant ;)). I'd think they'd take the ticking bomb off him and get it away from people while waiting for the bomb squad. But maybe it was rigged to go off?

In either case, I think the bomb squad now has to answer to the horrible publicity this'll cause and explain where the heck they were. Bombs don't wait for them...

I have a new respect for pizza delivery people, though.

:eek: Geez thats bad..

I never really thought it was THAT bad to be a delivery boy.

But wow... now I realize there are some serious risk... holy crap...

That's just wrong. 40 minutes for a bomb squad I hope the department is remanaged from the ground up. Shoddy shoddy police response.

Here's a link to VIDEO of the incident (warning, graphic video):

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96109,00.html

not the cops fault...how would they be able to determine whether the bomb was rigged to go of if tampered with...or if they guy was tricking them into coming closer so he could take a few out when it blew as he knew he was busted? There are several factors that the police have to look at...not to mention what is the bombs construction, how many people are in the area that can be harmed if it does go off, and is this guy on a suicide mission? All these things the police have to take into consideration these days when dealing with either human bombs, directional explosives or a nutcase with a death wish.

I think this is terrible,and the family of this guy should SUE THE HELL OUT OF THE AUTHORITIES!!!!!

This is so crazy!!!!!!

1) WHY WOULD HE TELL POLICE IF HE WASNT FORCED TO DO IT????

2) why didnt they help him??????

They should be sued for every dime!!!!!!! And i hope they are....Stuff like this pisses me off!!!!! Members of our country who re supposed to help us,just sit there and do nothing....NO SURPRISE ACTULLAY!!!!!!!

The Dude :angry:

Will you people grow up. The police are not at fault here. Read the article. The bomb exploded 40 minutes after the man ENTERED the bank. You have no idea what the response time was for a bomb squad. Not every department even has a bomb squad so you don't even know where they are coming from. The police had no idea, and still don't, if the guy was even who he said he was. For all they knew he was trying to take a bunch of them out with him.
It's easy to determine the age and/or mentality of a lot of members here by reading threads like this and seeing some of the half assed replies that they make without having any understanding of the situation.

very sad yet unusual.

The Dude, what do you expect the police to do? As someone stated earlier, they are not trained for these kinds of situations.

But they could have removed the bomb and thrown it somewhere safe,instead they left him HANDCUFFED with the bomb attached (When they saw it was a real bomb)

The Dude :(

Believe it or not, there is a certain protocol that the police have to follow. It isn't all Die Hard or Shwartzenegger stuff. It only makes sense that if there is a bomb, they "secure" the subject and call in the bomb squad. And that's what they did. And I would dare say that Erie, PA, population of only 103,000, is not the hub for bomb activity, so I would assume they would have to call in help from another jurisdiction, therefore adding to the clock.

As far as it looks, they did their job as best as could be expected.

[*...makes note never to get a side job as a pizza delivery man...*] :eek:

Vito

Originally posted by The Dude_
But they could have removed the bomb and thrown it somewhere safe,instead they left him HANDCUFFED with the bomb attached (When they saw it was a real bomb)

The Dude :(


yeah ok then if a micro-pressure or "release" trigger was used, then the guy with the bomb wouldnt be the only one killed in the tragedy, you would have several police killed or seriously wounded....what would you have them do? ..the average bomb squad response time is 30 to 45 minutes..they have to be called in, dressed down and then respond to the call with the proper equipment..this isnt hollywood..Bomb Squads dont travel around the state in a van waiting to be called in to a situation, nor are they supermen that can get to a situation in a matter of seconds...

The cops did exactly what they should have done...protected civilians, and themselves in an unlclear situation.

Many, many, MANY bank robbers claim they are wearing or have on their person a bomb. If you were a police officer in that situation, I seriously doubt you'd rush in. Bombs are handled by the bomb squad, regular officers are NOT trained to deal with them.

The cops followed their protocol; they secured the bomb and awaited the arrival of those trained to handle the situation.



Cops != Bruce Willis. They weren't supposed to magically understand the complexity of the device and diffuse it.



And I respect the hell out of the cops that got close enough to handcuff him.

The bottom line is, an innocent man was used as a robber and was killed. And he seemed to be calm in that movie. I would be moving around till there was no tomorrow.

Originally posted by The Dude
But they could have removed the bomb and thrown it somewhere safe,instead they left him HANDCUFFED with the bomb attached (When they saw it was a real bomb)

The Dude :(



Scenario; Bomb maker places a trip-wire running through the vest/strap the bomb was attached to. Taking the vest off [probably secured tightly; no pulling it over the head or down over the legs] would break the connection, trip the detonation device, and cause the ordnance attached to immediately explode.


You have to realize that strapping a bomb to someone's chest is not the equivalent of putting on a windbreaker. If this bomb was complex as they say it was, there was probably many trips to avoid removal, of which I could only expect an experienced bomb squad to understand.


If they guy that made the bomb could issue a striker/timer to the ordnance, he could easily set the trips required to prevent removal.

Couldn’t they shoot him with a sleeping tranquiliser? Then they could investigate the bomb without the fear that he will set it off. He was already sitting leaning on a car so he wouldn’t have fallen causing a reaction in the detonation of the bomb.

Police, unless they are in the bomb squad, are not trained to defuse bombs. They would have no idea what they were looking for. It wouldn't matter if the subject was asleep or awake. They followed protocol. They did all they could do.

This is really sad. :( Why when something like this happens to people jump the gun and start making off the wall accusations? The only responsible person(s) here are the one(s) who forced this poor guy to wear the bomb.

I feel for his family and his three cats, very sad.

Wells was heard asking, 'Why is nobody trying to come get this thing off me.'

Poor guy :bawling:

INSANITY :eek3:

Police, unless they are in the bomb squad, are not trained to defuse bombs. They would have no idea what they were looking for. It wouldn't matter if the subject was asleep or awake. They followed protocol. They did all they could do.

Very true, though the situation could've went better, maybe* :cool:

Originally posted by webworkz
Scenario; Bomb maker places a trip-wire running through the vest/strap the bomb was attached to. Taking the vest off [probably secured tightly; no pulling it over the head or down over the legs] would break the connection, trip the detonation device, and cause the ordnance attached to immediately explode.


You have to realize that strapping a bomb to someone's chest is not the equivalent of putting on a windbreaker. If this bomb was complex as they say it was, there was probably many trips to avoid removal, of which I could only expect an experienced bomb squad to understand.


If they guy that made the bomb could issue a striker/timer to the ordnance, he could easily set the trips required to prevent removal.

Ya your right,i didnt think of that possibility.......

Maybe they did the only thing possible to secure the most lives,i dunno.....Y did they handcuff him though??????

The Dude :)

Originally posted by The Dude
Ya your right,i didnt think of that possibility.......

Maybe they did the only thing possible to secure the most lives,i dunno.....Y did they handcuff him though??????

The Dude :) It's very sad. I'm glad you're realizing there wasn't much more the cops could do. As for why he was handcuffed, none of us were there so we can't know every detail. But I'd imagine it went something like this: all the cops at the time knew was that this man had robbed a bank and claimed to have been forced to do it because someone had strapped a bomb to him. They probably knew nothing about him and had no way of corroborating his story. So for all they knew he had orchestrated the whole thing. They had to assume he was dangerous and operate in a manner that would ensure their own safety and that of the civilians of Erie.

Hmmmm...it seems the pizza delivery bank robbery bomb victim's co-worker has just been found dead:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-08-31-coworker_x.htm

So he died from a bomb, but was found unresponsive? Doesn't make any sense to me..

Originally posted by The Dude
Ya your right,i didnt think of that possibility.......

Maybe they did the only thing possible to secure the most lives,i dunno.....Y did they handcuff him though??????

The Dude :)


They handcuffed him to minimize his movement, and guarantee security/integrity of the bomb.

It's generally not a good thing to be wearing a highly-intuitive bomb and be fiddling around with the wires, etc.

Originally posted by DanX
So he died from a bomb, but was found unresponsive? Doesn't make any sense to me..

The man who was found unresponsive was a co-worker of the guy who blew up. He died in his home and the police are trying to see if there is some sort of connection.

In either case, I think the bomb squad now has to answer to the horrible publicity this'll cause and explain where the heck they were. Bombs don't wait for them...

that's awful. I was wondering the same thing. That poor guy. ;_;

Originally posted by timechange
Makes you wonder why would people risk their lives to deliver pizza - I've heard other horror stories about pizza deliveries but this one tops any Hollywood movie.


2 things, timechange I know your the joker around WHT but this isn't a real laughing matter sorry.


Why would police let him sit there regardless if its fake or not or he wasn't set up and he did it himself, they didn't know how big the bomb was it could have been 5 blocks of C4 and blown up a couple of streets. Its could have been fake, and it could have been a little stick of dinamite or a freaking firecraker. Either way police should call someone to get that freaking thing off him! If it blew up 40min after he entered the bank thats plenty of time to get bomb squad and disarm that sh*t!

Stephen:

I'm sorry, but you don't really understand how all of this actually works.

Originally posted by Stephen
2 things, timechange I know your the joker around WHT but this isn't a real laughing matter sorry.




Au contraire, I didn't add a single smiley - I was pretty serious. The entire incident beats Hollywood material in its complexity and suspense. Where did you see me making fun of the matter?

Stephen, you need to spend more time reading and less time watching Hollywood movies. None of what you are saying is realistic in the real world.
The FBI stated that what the local police did was all in accordance with procedure.
Following procedure is what keeps people alive. Nobody would be any better off today if there were a bunch of dead police and civilians along with the delivery guy.
You may want to re-read Timechange's post as well. I don't see any attempt at humor there.

Remote Control at its best.... was the guy from p..stine?