August 31, 2003
Investigators Probe Bizarre Bomb Death of Pizza Man
From FOXNews.com
Brian Douglas Wells, 46, answered a delivery call Thursday to a mysterious address in a remote area and ended up about an hour later at a bank wearing a bomb.
As the time bomb ticked Wells tried in vain to convince police, who were waiting for the bomb squad to arrive, that he was forced into the crime, but died when the explosives detonated.
WJET-TV of Erie, Pa., captured audio and video from Wells as he sat handcuffed in front of a state police cruiser. "Why is nobody trying to come get this thing off me?" he asked.
State police are also looking into the death of a 43-year-old co-worker of Wells’, Fox News has learned. The man called paramedics Sunday morning and said he wasn’t feeling well but then he refused treatment. He was later found dead in his parents’ home, where he lived.
McCabe said the unusual aspects of the incident means it “looks like a good old-fashioned bank robbery with a new twist on it,” adding that as of now it is a homicide investigation because there was a death involved and there is no evidence it was a suicide.
“We’re not ruling anything out, we’re investigating it hot and heavy all weekend,” McCabe said. He said the FBI was working with the Erie police and Pennsylvania state police.
McCabe said the most unusual feature of the robbery was that the bomb was wrapped around the man’s neck. “This is probably one of the most dangerous bombs to try to defuse … the bomb squad would have to do a hand entry and use their hands and tools and try to get it off.”
No one else was hurt in Thursday's explosion, which happened in front of law enforcement officers as they waited for a bomb squad to arrive.
A state police spokesman confirmed Friday night that Wells had made a number of statements, including that he had been forced to rob the bank.
The tape shows Wells telling authorities someone had started a timer on his bomb under his T-shirt, and that there was little time left.
"It's going to go off," Wells said. "I'm not lying."
Erie Chief Deputy Coroner Korac Timon said Saturday the bomb appeared to have hung from Wells' neck, and that he had been told it was of a "very sophisticated construction."
FBI Special Agent Bob Rudge called the case unusual, noting that while bank robbers sometimes claim to have a bomb, few actually do.
While no one has been arrested or identified as a suspect, Rudge said the investigation was "going extremely well." He said investigators were looking into Wells' background.
Linda Payne, who owns the property where Wells lived, described him as a private, trustworthy person who liked music and cared for three cats. He was a friend of Payne's husband, who also had been a pizza deliveryman, she said.
"I couldn't believe that he would rob a bank. He doesn't care that much about money," Payne said. "I think somebody lured him into that place delivering a pizza, dropped a bomb on him and sent him into the bank ... He would not have decided to do that on his own."
Wells' boss and one of the owners of Mama Mia's Pizza-Ria outside Erie, who asked that his name not be published, said Saturday he took a call Thursday for a pizza delivery but didn't recognize the address given.
He put Wells on the phone to get directions. Wells left to make the delivery and never returned, the pizzeria owner said.
The address of the delivery was a rural spot along a main drag that runs south of the city, where a gravel road leads to a television transmission tower.
According to police, Wells entered the PNC Bank branch outside Erie on Thursday afternoon and produced an "extensive note" demanding money and said he had a bomb. Rudge would not provide any details about the note.
Wells left with an undisclosed amount of money and got into his car. Police surrounded him a short time later in a nearby parking lot, pulled him out of his car and handcuffed him, authorities said.
The bomb exploded about 40 minutes after he entered the bank.
Authorities obtained a search warrant and took evidence from Wells' home, but a state police spokesman refused to say what was taken. The evidence arrived at FBI laboratories in Washington, D.C., but Rudge could not say how long testing would take.
State police forensics teams also searched near the spot of Wells' last pizza delivery. It was not known what, if anything, they found.
What the heck? The cops just stand around there watching this poor guy pleading for his life while they chow down on some d-nuts wating for the bomb squad? Freaks, they should be slapped with a big ol' lawsuit. I mean, this dude was telling them, I'm going to die if you don't help me, and their like.. yea.. well sit tight pal.
Posted by: muddy at August 31, 2003 11:59 PMActually, sweety, the article did say they were waiting for the bomb squad when the bomb went off. The police wern't trying to get the bomb off because they're not trained specifically for that (at least from what I've been told)...that's why they have a bomb squad.
This whole incident is very bizarre.
I keep reading comments about how the police did not handle the "Pizza Delivery Guy", situation properly.
That's just plain crap.
I know most people do not understand how law enforcement works, but those cops did exactly what they were trained to do.
A regular patrol officer is not trained in explosives. If one of those cops would have tried to save that guy without the proper training, more then likely, the cop would be dead too. Also, the cop would have been performing against department procedure. Now, that's a Law Suit.
I bet the same people who keep saying, the cops messed it all up and let that guy die, are the same ones who would bitch and lay blame on the police if they did try to save him and the bomb went off.
I can see it now. "That pizza guy would still be alive if those "Hero" wanna-be cops would have just waited for the bomb squad. Somebody should sue them."
For all those people who think they could have done a better job: Quit your current job, apply with your local police department, go through all the training, (if you make it that far), wear the badge, uniform, gun and then have at it. Let's see how ya do.
*edited for content*
Unfortunately, a tragedy took place. the response about the police is a nice thing to say, but the point may lie somewhere else, like, how come the bomb squad wasn't called upon the cell phone alert by the bank workers?, how did the arresting police not see the bomb before wells alerted them to it's existance.
finally, how come the friends of the victim say just the opposite of the fbi spokewoman profiler who believes that this was an elaborate suicide?
So, because most bank robbers who say they have a bomb really don't, that when extensive instructions are issued, where in the past usually stems from a perp trying to establish non-control, this means that by using the "what has been" rationale, becomes "what is now".
I don't really understand how a person who devotes their life to the pursuit of justice et al, would rely so blantantly on aristotelian thought, (where it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck etc.)
I am not saying that the police did not follow proceedure, but that proceedure should be questioned, especially now when there is a faction of humanity who extensively prepare for events that do not follow "the way things were done before"
This is a sad sick story and I'm sorry that some people are blaiming police for not trying to help him. Unfortunatly, bomb squad's are around for specfic reasons. My uncle, aside from being a commander in the sheriff's dept. is also a captain on the bomb squad. For his bomb squad training he had to go to the FBI accadamy and take lots of chemical class's along with toher things... It would be impossible to train every police/sheriff in the country bomb squad techniques and give them gear to assist people... these cases are just too rare... i feel horrible for the poor pizza man.... =(
Posted by: Kevin at September 7, 2003 12:16 AMbomb squads are supposed to be fast responding, I have even seen them helod in with a small containment unit..that guy sat there for 40 min with guns drawn on him pleading for his life...now what in the hell happened? 40 min is too long for a response team ..they are supposed to be as fast as paramedics...the system or someone failed somewhere..unless they where in a traffic jam?? doesnt make since ..thats far too odd to just think he was lying..if no visible wires ran around the collar within it they could have used bolt cutters to free the man....more protocol..more failure ..figures as much
Posted by: rob at September 8, 2003 04:08 PMdoes anyone have pictures of the guys body after or in the process of the bomb going off? that would look cool
Posted by: pete at September 8, 2003 11:59 PMThat's just sick man, if you want to see bodies, go blow yourself up in front of a mirror.
Posted by: muddy at September 15, 2003 02:20 AMHas anyone heard the latest details in that whole deal?
Posted by: 311Guy at September 29, 2003 04:26 PM