FBI says Erie bomb collar like Colombian device

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.post-gazette.com/breaking/20030903eriep4.asp

FBI agents said the bomb locked to the neck of a pizza deliveryman who told police he was forced to rob a bank is a type unusual in the United States.

FBI spokesman Bill Crowley confirmed a statement today by agent Kenneth McCabe that the device was of a kind he had heard of only once, in Bogota, Colombia. Crowley also confirmed that a second weapon was found in connection with the bank robbery. I heard it's something unique.

<snip>

Earlier this summer, Colombian rebels were accused of using such a necklace bomb to try to extort money from a Venezuelan rancher. The man's attackers threatened to detonate it in 72 hours unless they received the equivalent of $187,500, but Colombian and Venezuelan secret police were able to disarm the bomb, authorities said.

A similar bomb in 2000 killed a woman and a police officer who had tried to help defuse the bomb in Bogota, Colombia.

[DuctapeFatwa]

1. No, they've been doing it in Colombia for a while

The difference is, in Colombia, they put the collar on, then demand ransom in return for turning off the timer.

The Erie case doesn't appear to have been motivated by money.

Although the collaree went to rob a bank, obviously, he was going to blow up, so the collarors wouldn't get any money.

It appears that there was a miscalculation in the timing, I think the idea was for the bomb to go off while he was in the bank.

[RamboLiberal]

2. I think he was sitting on the ground for 40 minutes

before it went off. Erie isn't that big - you can be out in the wilds in 10-15 minutes. I think the plan was to meet him after the robbery and either the bomb would be removed then or he would be killed. But cops caught him first. Feel sorry for the poor guy if he is innocent.

[Must_B_Free]

3. Yep - the police f'ed up

they thought he was a agressor, not the victim and they wasted too much time, causing his death.

They police failed.

[demon67]

4. Talk about a rush to judgment

Based apparently solely on your own preconceptions, you have assumed and/or concluded that (1) the individual was a purely innocent victim; (2) the police "wasted" time in accessing what was apparently a truly bizarre and unique crisis situation; and (3) the police "failed"; and (4) not the person who placed the collar on his neck, but the police themselves actually "caused his death."

Can't you at least wait for the facts to come in before casting such harsh judgments? Maybe the cops did fuck up, but at this point, how can you even begin to judge them? Using hindsight to judge very difficult, time-sensitive decisions is pretty lame. But using hindsight before even having any hindsight is just plain ignorant.