February 18, 2009
-
Things That Go Boom
Early yesterday morning, Anchorage police stopped a car in the parking lot of the school district’s administration building. Their justification for stopping the car was a broken driver’s side mirror. Reading that came as a shock to me. My outside mirror was cracked when I bought the car, and still is. Is that a “traffic violation”? Can I now be stopped for no reason other than that? Yikes!!
The broken mirror was enough cause for them to stop the car and run the ID of the two men in the car, but not probable cause for them to search the car. I guess they really wanted to search that car. When the info came back that the passenger was on probation, the police phoned his probation officer and got consent to search the car.
They found pipe bombs and black powder. Consequently, traffic was stopped on a section of Northern Lights, a major crosstown boulevard, for more than five hours while the bomb squad did its work. I’m guessing that this was a by-the-book response to finding explosives of any kind. The description of the bombs suggests to me that it was an overreaction, but someone would surely argue that it’s better to overreact in such a situation than to take chances.
The thing is, if I were to find a canister of black powder and a bunch of sealed pipes with fuses sticking out of their ends, I’d have no fear about handling or moving them, or disarming them, and I am neither foolhardy, nor trained at bomb disposal, nor do I have a death wish. I’m just not afraid of black powder pipe bombs. I’d hesitate to handle sweaty old sticks of dynamite, but that’s different — very different.
I have a close friend and neighbor who has a thing about things that go boom. Once, years ago, he was going out of town to work for a few weeks and left his pickup for me to use while he was gone. He told me there was a pipe bomb under the driver’s seat. I idly wondered if he’d had a plan for it when he made it and changed his mind, or if he’d made more than he needed and this was a leftover, or what. Halfway sure that I wouldn’t get a straight answer if I asked, and knowing that it was none of my business anyway, I didn’t ask why it was there.
I drove the truck for a few weeks, a couple of hundred miles around here. Then, I asked my new boyfriend to drive, because he had a license and at the time I did not. I didn’t think about that pipe bomb for a while. Then, one day while we were going down the road, I said, “By the way, there’s a pipe bomb under the driver’s seat.” At first, he thought I was kidding.
As soon as he realized I was serious, he pulled over and told me to get rid of the bomb. He stood well away from the truck while I pulled it out. He wanted me to just pitch it, but that was a stupid idea for a number of reasons. We were miles from any safe place to dispose of a bomb. I was in no mood to dig around looking for tools and then to dismantle a bomb there by the highway, and I was not about to pitch it into the ditch intact for some idiot or child to find and do damage. I stuck the bomb in a tool box in the truck bed. Later, back at home, I moved it back where it belonged, under the seat.
It never crossed my mind at the time that the bomb might be illegal to possess. I’m still not sure it was. The components are common hardware items. Black powder is easy to come by, and should be. Explosives have several legitimate household uses. I have seen them used to remove stumps and boulders, and to excavate holes for outhouses. If you don’t have a backhoe, it sure beats digging by hand.
Here is the point to my story: Anchorage police Lt. Dave Koch said the two men, “were certainly up to no good.” This was after the city police, FBI, and ATF agents had gotten warrants and searched the home of the passenger, the one they call the, “primary suspect,” and the feds backed off the case. “‘There was no terrorist nexus,’ FBI special agent Eric Gonzalez said.”
There are some mysteries involved here. The driver was released, not charged with any crime. The passenger went to jail on probation violation, and a friend of his found at his apartment was arrested on an outstanding warrant. Nobody had anything to say to the cops about what they intended to do with the bombs. The police did not identify the driver, but did say he was 27 years old. That’s the biggest mystery to me. Is he an undercover agent? …or what? If he was a juvenile, not identifying him would make sense. This does not.
Comments (7)
You had me from “boom” I suppose it will be awhile before people realize the sliding loss of rights they’ve begged to get voted in (majority or either well intentioned or extremely ignorant of what laws are being passed/both) as it started out with simple traffic stops and the driver risked a ticket and maybe the drunk in the seat next-if their was any lip, then it was mandatory every passenger provide identification, then something intrigueing- bicycling under the influence became a DUI-and thus by law you can’t ride a bike in a public street without a driver’s license…although it is hardly enforce, then it became clear that if you are under 21 and stopped after dark-you must have booze in the car and you risk arrest if you do not let them search, then a subtle thing like a white cane law for blind people legally having a deference because they may not see cars so one should be careful and watch for them- was repealed as part of a wider array of infringement on pedestrians having the right of way save on interstate highways, and despite a tightening up of laws to cut down on drunken driving which really is unsafe, and a general upping of convictions on other substances also being “under the influence” are happening, Cell phones and driving while technically illegal as is it is unsafe to not be aware of your surroundings in general- if you get hit by a car- its too much of a hassle to do the paperwork for it to be anything other than your own dumbass fault. if you lose your license- more so than a felon not being able to own a gun or vote in most states, you are truly a no class citizen who has no business being outside the house. and parrish the thought of riding a sissy moped as they really do save gas and offer speeds that with safety gear and training are unlikely to kill you- you must wait until you’re 16 and licensed or you can’t operate them save on private land. ….stay prisoner to your home non-drivers.
and we haven’t even touched on your subject of boom booms- which only make the authorities assume you’re a terrorist…and any “sane” adult. firecrackers hurt when you hold them or misfire, and because of this sparklers are even illegal….it burned a 3 year old. what idiot doesn’t try to take precautions with any substance…. what happened to being responsible? damn near anything can kill you if you’re determined. and just because smoking next to a gas pool can start a fire- doesn’t mean it will…cigarettes tend not to burn hot enough to light up gasoline and INFlammible means that only vapors burn…its a risky parlor trick but on a cold night with precautions anyone can try it.
@Uncious - This is a great rant. I hope you feel better after venting it.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if legislatures had to repeal a law every time they pass a new one?
@SuSu - Now that’s a great thought, Kathy. Would certainly cut down on the legalese!
Sounds like some guys playing with things that go boom to me. hahaha
@SuSu -thorny possibility. and yes, I do feel better, thank you. best part is that because its a rant, no one has to listen….thank you for bucking the trend.
Is that why sparklers aren’t around any more? Huh, you know I never looked into that I just figured it something that didn’t sell.
That is kind of freaky that they can pull someone over for just a mirror. I’m wondering if they can even start with a, it appeared to be broken and pull you over even if it wasn’t. There’s a video on line of a guy telling you never to talk to cops. Here’s an address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8z7NC5sgik
oh, yes and they can pull you over for dumber things… My hubby and I are notorious for driving cars that don’t look very good. He is a mechanic and can keep them running. We got pulled over for a crack in the windshield that the cop saw as we were coming at 60 mph in the opposite lane as him. Then once he got to the window it was like he couldn’t think of a reason that he stoppped us. He looked around and said your window is cracked and your muffler is a little loud. But I seriously doubt he saw that window as fast as that road is and we weren’t speeding Since the speed limit was 60. We talked to a friend of ours on state patrol and we think there may have been a BOLO out on a car like ours. We used to drive this old pick-up which was four or five different colors and we got stopped randomly for no reason. It had a good window and new exhaust so they couldn’t even use that excuse!