The object made a clicking noise. The NYPD said that the suspect has not been clearly linked to the fake bomb incident.
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Sgt Armani added: “We both said our prayers”.
They drove a block and a half to a less crowded spot, then got the device out of the van. We were scared, we thought we were gone. His last employment was as a cab driver and police said he had a TLC license. “They are reflective of the best of this police department”, Bratton said.
Eventually, the officers found an uncrowded street.
But rather than run to safety, Armani hit the gas, determined to get the device away from the crowds. The unusual object turned out to be harmless, and the all-clear was given by to NYPD Assistant Commissioner for Communication and Public Information J. Peter Donald late Wednesday night.
Police later caught up with the suspect at Columbus Cirlce, where a standoff began.
“The bravery, heroism, professionalism displayed by [officers] through the many long hours of this morning I can not extol enough”, Bratton said about all of the officers involved. He said, “I want to die and I have a bomb strapped to my chest”.
But hours later a man believed to be the suspect retreated to a Chrysler Aspen at the Circle, where he remained alone, wearing a red helmet, cops said.
Seeing the flickering light and assuming the worst, they drove east to 46th Street, getting out of the densely trafficked area, and tossed the object onto the street at Sixth Avenue. The driver, Hector Meneses, 52, of Elmhurst, Queens, was taken into custody.
He was taken into custody – leaving the scene on a stretcher – with no further incident. He is being treated as “mentally disturbed”. It’s still unclear why he may have thrown a suspicious device into the police vehicle.
Philadelphia’s police union is condemning Hillary Clinton for allowing relatives of people killed by police to speak at the Democratic National Convention without giving equal time to families of fallen officers. Another gunman killed three officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “We come to work everyday not knowing, quite literally, what will be thrown at us”.
“I looked around, saw a lot of kids, a lot of young people”, said Armani, who emigrated from Afghanistan to the USA 10 years ago. “We’ve worked together two and a half years now, get along really well, and we both knew what each other was thinking”. “I said, ‘If it happens, it happens, but I’m not going to stop here'”.
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Armani, the visibly exhausted sergeant, was finally able to relax Thursday. “It’s a good day”. “They are reflective of the best of this police department”.
