Harlem bore witness to a chaotic pipe bomb scare following a machete attack on Wednesday afternoon that sparked a massive police response.
According to Chief Ruel Stephenson, the incredible event unfolded just before noon when two 50-year-old cousins in a vehicle approached cops at the 25th Precinct, located on 119th Street and Lexington Avenue, with the passenger stating that he had been attacked with a machete.
“The assault consisted of the driver hitting [the victim] in the back of the head with a machete causing bleeding,” Lieutenant Eloise Walter said.
Police swooped in and took the driver into custody, but not before he told cops that he was armed with an explosive device.
After making the arrest, cops called in backup from the bomb squad to deal with what law enforcement sources described as a pipe bomb with aerosol cans taped to it.
“It’s not small. If it functioned and was able to function as designed, what we would say is that it was capable of causing death or serious physical injury to anyone in proximity,” Lieutenant Mark Torre said.
Both the NYPD and the FDNY locked the street down and spent several hours investigating the apparent bomb before removing it.
A heavily armored member of the Bomb Squad could be seen using a pole to hook the device and place it into a black container before loading it into the back of a truck. The squad brought the devices to the NYPD base at Rodman’s Neck in the Bronx, where it will be analyzed and dismantled.
“Once it’s disassembled, we can see exactly what it consists of what its contents are or not. And from that, that’s when we could give an expert opinion of [whether it would] have been able to explode,” Torre said.
At this time, police do not believe the suspect had an intention to detonate the device at a specific location. However, sources familiar with the investigation report that he has at least 11 prior arrests, including criminal possession of a weapon among previous charges.
His cousin is also no stranger to the law, sources said.
Police officials say they are considering the incident incredibly seriously.
“Given what you see around the country, whether it’s somebody that’s mentally disturbed, or whether this is a targeted incident, we treat it the same. We have a lot of work to do, still, but make no mistake about it. Finding a device like this, and we will test it and the bomb squad is working, but it is serious,” Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tariq Shepard said.
