posted on August 31, 2003 09:15:40 AM new
ERIE, Pa. (AP) - A pizza delivery man told police he had been forced to rob a bank and asked authorities to help him minutes before a bomb strapped to his chest exploded and killed him.
On Saturday, federal agents and police in northwestern Pennsylvania were trying to solve the bizarre case of 46-year-old Brian Douglas Wells, who left to deliver a pizza to a mysterious address in a remote area about an hour before he turned up at the bank with a bomb strapped to his body.
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.
WJET-TV of Erie 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.
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.'' Wells' death was being investigated as a homicide and 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 delivery man, 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Wells' boss and one of the owners of Mama Mia's Pizza-Ria outside Erie, who asked that his name not be published, said Saturday he took a call Thursday for a pizza delivery but didn't recognize the address given.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 producing an ``extensive note'' demanding money and saying 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 know what, if anything, they found.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
Men Are Like Grapes. If You Stomp on Them and Keep Them in the Dark Long Enough, They Might Turn Into Something That You Would Take to Dinner
posted on August 31, 2003 09:27:12 AM new
Sad case IF he really was forced to wear the bomb. "Why is nobody trying to come get this thing off me?'' he asked. That question should have been obvious.
But if it was against his will, why would he not have gone directly to the police so they could have immediately removed it, rather than rob the bank and then tell them.
fenix - You come up with some pretty 'different' stories.
posted on August 31, 2003 09:28:16 AM new
My daughter just called from PA. They showed a video of the pizza delivery man being blown up on TV. What a disturbing story.
posted on August 31, 2003 02:22:34 PM new
He might have been smart enough to see getting the money back to the bomb maker was his best chance. As we see the cops didn't help him at all. Sat with him handcuffed for 20 minutes waiting for a bomb squad. I'm sure they figured he was the one put the bomb on so why worry about him? If a crime is committed they just assume the nearest person is the cause. If you ever have your wife or husband murdered just figure from the start you will be charged - it's the easiest for them.
posted on September 1, 2003 06:10:28 AM new
Co-worker of man killed in bank robbery blast dies at home
A friend and co-worker of a pizza deliveryman who robbed a bank, then died when a bomb strapped to his body exploded, was found dead at his home Sunday.
Police said there was no obvious connection between the two deaths. Authorities sent a bomb squad to search the home in Lawrence Park Township as a precaution, but they found nothing suspicious, state police Cpl. Mark Zaleski said.
"There was nothing overtly obvious as to the cause of his death," Zaleski said, "but because there's a relationship between the two individuals, we are over there."
Robert Pinetti, 43, worked with Brian Douglas Wells, 46, who died Thursday shortly after robbing a bank in Erie. Minutes before the bomb went off, Wells told officers who stopped him that he had been forced to rob the bank. No one else was injured in the explosion.
Wells had gone to deliver a pizza to a mysterious address in a remote area about an hour before he turned up at the bank with the bomb strapped to his body.
Police received a call early Sunday asking for medical assistance at the home where Pinetti lived with his parents, but the man refused medical assistance, Zaleski said.
A few hours later, authorities were called again after his parents found him unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the home and an autopsy was scheduled, Zaleski said.
FBI Special Agent Bob Rudge said there was no reason to connect Pinetti's death to Wells' case.
There was no answer at the pizza shop where both men worked.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
Men Are Like Grapes. If You Stomp on Them and Keep Them in the Dark Long Enough, They Might Turn Into Something That You Would Take to Dinner
posted on September 1, 2003 06:21:27 AM new
The FBI is investigating five possible scenarios but would not reveal what they entail. What a bizarre story!
posted on September 1, 2003 07:53:59 AM new
gravid - As we see the cops didn't help him at all. Sat with him handcuffed for 20 minutes waiting for a bomb squad.
I wouldn't have expected them to try and remove the bomb....they aren't trained for that. All their attempts may have done was get him and themselves blown up. Then the police would be blame for causing his death.
I'm sure they figured he was the one put the bomb on so why worry about him. You don't know that. I'm sure during the wait for the bomb squad they were talking to him to get as much info as they could about what had happened.
-----------
where Pinetti lived with his parents.
He was 43 and living with his parents? And then he refused medical care? Weird...on both counts.
posted on September 1, 2003 08:05:11 AM new
I think this was a scheme gone horribly wrong for the schemers... I believe both men were behind the robbery and when the one died the other took his own life.
I think they had it figured out to "scare" everyone away and I do believe that if a Police Officer had attempted to remove the bomb, he too would now be dead... just conjecture based on limited facts... will be interesting to see how this turns out.
posted on September 2, 2003 11:57:07 AM new
FBI releases photos in Pennsylvania bomb case
(CNN) -- The FBI on Tuesday released photos of a steel collar used to secure a bomb to the neck of a pizza deliveryman killed last week after robbing a bank in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Investigators also said they had found no direct connection between the death of the deliveryman -- Brian Douglas Wells -- and later death of a friend and co-worker.
FBI Special Agent Bob Rudge said the bomb's locking device was unique, sophisticated and has "significant lead value" to investigators.
The FBI said it had released the pictures in hopes that someone will remember seeing it somewhere before the robbery.
"We feel this device was made uniquely for the incident at hand," he said. "We are hopeful that by showing a picture of the device, someone may recognize the instrument, the metal, the locking material used to secure it to the neck and, certainly, call us with that information so that we can further examine the details of its construction."
Wells, 46, was killed Thursday afternoon when a bomb attached to the collar exploded after a bank robbery. Wells had told police he had been forced to rob the bank.
After the robbery, Pennsylvania State Police stopped Wells, handcuffed him and sat him down on the ground, safely away from others. Police then called a bomb squad, but the device exploded before bomb technicians arrived, killing Wells.
A task force of federal, state and local investigators is looking into whether Wells was a hostage or willing participant, said Cpl. Mark Zaleski, a Pennsylvania State Police spokesman.
The collar around Wells' neck included a series of locks near his throat and was "obviously designed by the individual who intended to affix it," Rudge said.
Wells carried a note for bank employees during the robbery and another one that included instructions for him. Both notes are being examined for any fingerprints, handwriting, hair or fiber evidence they may yield, Rudge said.
Wells had gone to a remote area to deliver a pizza, according to his boss, and showed up at the bank an hour later with the bomb attached to him. Investigators have been unable to determine any commercial use for the mechanism, Rudge said.
Police handcuffed and isolated Brian Douglas Wells, who had said he was forced to rob a bank.
Though previous bank robbers in the area have told tellers they had a bomb, "This is the first time that a device has actually exploded," Rudge said.
In addition, Zaleski said investigators have found no connection between Wells' death and the death Sunday morning of a co-worker, Robert Pinetti.
Erie County District Attorney Bradley Foulk said an autopsy found no sign of disease or injury, but preliminary drug tests indicated the presence of methadone and depressants similar to Valium in Pinetti's system.
Taken together, those drugs "could lead to respiratory depression, which could result in an accidental or intentional drug overdose," Foulk said. "[But] we do not know that this is positively the case at this time."
Final test results could take more than a week, he said.
Authorities received a call requesting medical assistance be sent to Pinetti's home early Sunday. Pinetti refused treatment, and his parents found him dead about 9 a.m.
Investigators looking into the bank robbery also assisted in the probe of Pinetti's death.
"At this time, no connection has been made linking Mr. Pinetti with the bank robbery that occurred on Thursday," Zaleski said. "Investigators are continuing to explore any link between the two individuals."
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
Men Are Like Grapes. If You Stomp on Them and Keep Them in the Dark Long Enough, They Might Turn Into Something That You Would Take to Dinner
