Police in tactical gear are locked in a tense standoff with a man barricaded in a vehicle in one of New York City’s busiest areas Thursday morning, hours after authorities say they think the man tossed a harmless object into an NYPD van and sparked a bomb scare in Times Square. He was removed around 8 a.m. Police identified the man as Hector Meneses, 52, of Elmhurst. Negotiations lasted about six hours.
Advertisement
According to an NYPD spokesman, the incident began around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when someone in a dark-colored SUV threw a suspicious object into a parked NYPD van in Times Square.
All clear by the bomb squad after a suspicious object was thrown at a police auto.
O’Neill said officers spotted the suspect’s sport utility vehicle around 2 a.m.at Columbus Circle and pulled it over.
Meneses, who wore a red plastic helmet and was from the borough of Queens, was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, police said.
Police recovered 19 LED lights, wires, and a remote in the man’s vehicle after his arrest.
Police were forced to shut a major mid-Manhattan shopping area and traffic circle. The officer inside, who thought it was a bomb, drove a few blocks away to where there were less people before he threw what he thought was a bomb on the street and called his superiors while the bomb squad responded.
The bomb squad determined the device was a hoax.
Hours later police got into a standoff with the man believed to be the suspect. “They are reflective of the best of this police department”, Bratton said.
“These two officers are heroes of the NYPD, heroes of New York City”, Police Commissioner William Bratton tweeted.
You are reading news and information on LongIsland.com, Long Island’s Most Popular Website, Since 1996.
Advertisement
The Daily News reports, “Cops sent in an Emergency Services robot to obtain a better view of the SUV, as police unsuccessfully tried to reach his mother and his wife, sources said”. For the protection of AP and its licensors, content may not be copied, altered or redistributed in any form. Doing so may result in civil and/or criminal penalties.
