Sgt. Hameed Armani and Officer Peter Cybulski stared briefly at the tin-foil-wrapped object and began driving their auto, with the object still inside, away from the crowds. “We’re gonna go, but we’re not gonna take a lot of people with us”, said Hamani recounting the moment at a news conference later. The scare prompted a citywide search for the SUV, eventually found, police said, in Columbus Circle.
Advertisement
The suspect, which PIX11 News is naming as 52-year-old Hector Meneses from Queens returned to the scene around 2:10 a.m. and was pulled over by police. The van was then driven to a less densely populated area while the bomb squad investigated the device and determined it was harmless.
The man in a gold SUV flung the device in the vehicle.
Sgt. Hameed Armani, who was driving the van, said he made a quick decision when the object came through the window. Cybulski became an officer three years ago after two years in a police cadet program.
“We knew what each other was thinking”, said Officer Cybulski. “I looked around, saw a lot of people, a lot of kids”. A sergeant in the NYPD van, assigned to the Times Square Unit, immediately drove out of Times Square.
It consisted of a candle, a cylindrical object, an electrical component and an L.E.D. light, all wrapped in a white cloth.
The man had been sitting in a parked SUV, prompting the closure of New York’s Columbus Circle and surrounding streets earlier Thursday.
Meneses put on a red helmet, police said.
When a man tossed what appeared to be a bomb into their NYPD van in the middle of Times Square, two police officers only had a few seconds to decide what to do. “Put the lights on, put the vehicle in drive, try to get as fast as possible away from Duffy Square”. Lucia Amaral, a friend and former landlord, said Meneses had been unemployed and had money troubles in recent years.
Donald tweeted that the suspect was in police custody around 7:55 a.m.
Meneses, who received his cab license in April, has no criminal or mental health record.
“I can not emphasize how proud I am of them”, he added.
Advertisement
– Associated Press material was used in this report. Please see our terms of service for more information.
