Robber Explodes

[GalvestonDuck]

Dang! What a rough way to go!

Robber explodes
Mon Sep 1, 7:08 AM ET Add Local - New York Daily News to My Yahoo!

By MAKI BECKER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Handcuffed and desperate, a Pennsylvania pizza delivery man nabbed for robbing a bank pleaded with cops to help him moments before a live bomb strapped to his chest exploded, killing him.

"Why is it nobody's trying to come get this thing off me?" Brian Douglas Wells cried. "I don't have a lot of time!"

Two minutes and 46 seconds later, the bomb went off.

Authorities were trying to determine yesterday whether Wells, 46, staged Thursday's horror to cover up a crime - or whether there was truth to his claim that someone fitted him with explosives and ordered him to knock off a bank.

"It looks like a good old-fashioned bank robbery with a new twist on it," FBI (news - web sites) agent Kenneth McCabe told Fox News yesterday.

But people in Erie, tucked in Pennsylvania's northwest corner, said the balding bachelor, who lived alone with three cats, was too shy to carry out such a brazen crime.

"He was a very simple guy," said Linda Payne, 61, who rented a small cottage to Wells in nearby Millcreek Township.

"He's been no trouble at all. He just works on his car and plays with his cats and listens to his CDs," she told the Daily News.

Authorities described the bomb, which hung from Wells' neck, as very sophisticated.

McCabe said he has seen the highly unusual type of explosive only once before, in Bogota, Colombia.

"This is probably one of the most dangerous bombs to try to defuse," he said.

Investigators found a handwritten note in Wells' car containing detailed instructions on how to carry out the bank heist, McCabe said.

The list, along with pieces of the bomb, were taken to an FBI lab for analysis, McCabe said.

Order for pizza

The bizarre drama unfolded just before 2 p.m. Thursday, when someone called Mama Mia's Pizza-Ria and placed an order.

Wells, who had just finished his shift, agreed to deliver the food on his way home. But the directions were unclear, and the route took Wells to a remote spot at the end of a dirt road near a radio tower.

"It was a delivery to a work site," said Payne, whose husband works at the pizza shop. But there was "no work going on there."

About 20 minutes later, Wells walked into the local PNC Bank, a prominent bulge underneath his white T-shirt and an "extensive" note in his hand, the FBI said.

A teller handed him some cash and Wells drove away in his Geo Metro.

Cops pulled over the nervous man about a quarter-mile away. They cuffed his wrists - and backed away when he told them he was a human bomb.

In his frantic final moments, aired live on WJET-TV, Wells desperately begged for help.

"It's going to go off! I'm not lying. Did you call my boss?"

Training their guns on the increasingly hysterical man, cops waited for bomb squad experts to arrive.

They never made it.

"You could hear it like a big old firecracker," said Matt Snippert, who was at a nearby restaurant. "There was a cloud of smoke and debris."

Adding to the mystery, another worker at the pizzeria turned up dead yesterday morning.

Robert Pinetti, 43, called 911 from his parents' house, then refused medical help and was found dead a few hours later, WJET-TV reported.

Authorities were trying to determine whether the two deaths were related, but just in case, they sent a bomb squad to search Pinetti's house.

Wells' landlord criticized police for failing to help him.

"They should have tried a little harder," Payne said. "Even if they thought he tried to do it himself." Originally published on September 1, 2003

[bfez1]

Truly a very disturbing story!!! How sad!

[j]

Incredible story..I saw the Video of the man cuffed and looking just a might bit nervous. Seems they are being very quick to blame the Police on this one, but hell...what would you do?

In this day of terrosim on the street level, you don't know what that guy has strapped to his belly. I think the Police did the right thing, or shoudl I say..the only thing they could do.

[JCT777]

This is such a shame. I do not think the police could have saved him. It's just horrible that someone or some group would use a person like that.

[GalvestonDuck]

...what would you do?

He had a collar bomb ("necklace bomb") wrapped around his neck. If they thought it was going to go off anyway, the least they could have done was left him uncuffed. They could have still kept their distance and kept guns trained on him, telling him to stay on the ground. If he actually was the bomber, he'd at least have had a chance to get the darned thing off so they could give him a fair trial at a later date. But instead, he was dubbed guilty and left to die in a helpless state.

I'm still trying to figure out if there's a connection between this guy and his co-worker.

[Lindaloo]

In rebuttle of your assumption towards the police Duck I have to say hogwash. It is my understanding that he did not tell of the bomb until after he was cuffed. After that we leave it to the investigators of the FBI. I highly doubt they wanted this man to die this way. Their lives were also on the line. How could they actually know that this bomb was real?

Let's see what the investigation turns up before we start laying the blame on law enforcement. I do feel sorry for the man though. If his robbery attempt failed, then he is totally at fault.

[j]

Exactly Linda...AFTER he was cuffed......that was the wrong time to announce you have a bomb strapped to your body. The goal of the Police at that point has to be one of caution with the ultimate goal of reducing the chance of catastrophic injury to themselves or anybody else.

[GalvestonDuck]

Re-read my post.

[Lindaloo]

Hmmm, rather bizarre. But law enforcement did the right thing and that was to wait on the bomb squad. There again, he did not disclose the bomb "fitted to his chest" until after he was cuffed.

He could have possibly been called to deliver a pizza. When he arrived they held a gun to him and strapped him with a bomb and forced him to committ a bank robbery? Somebody has been watching too much TV!!

[coriolis]

Hopefully more details will be forthcoming. It would seem highly odd that others did that to him. It would also seem highly odd that a person would use a live bomb in a ruse. Hopefully it's not the begining of a trend.

In either case, I feel bad for him and his family.

[wx247]

From what I have read on this story leads me to believe that it is an odd deal and I don't think anyone is to blame. I do think someone put the bomb on this man. Why would he have a bomb and rob a bank and then blow himself up? Makes no sense...

[GalvestonDuck]

Fine then, I'm glad he exploded his head all over the pavement. Serves him right for trying to lead a life of crime. And of all stupid bombs to wear, a necklace bomb -- rarely seen except by Colombian terrorists or viewers of CSI. It's amazing how intelligent a 46-year-old pizza delivery guy can be. Unless the cops were blind, I don't know how they missed it. Good thing they cuffed his sorry terrorist butt and let him die an al-Qaida style death. Don't most cops take criminal psych courses? Fear. Anguish. Panic. Not typical criminal behavior. Next time someone asks for help, cuff 'em! Yeah, that's the ticket.

[Lindaloo]

Duck, I take it you do not like law enforcement or know how they operate?

[azsnowman]

Being a newly commisioned officer....I'm staying away from this one......all I can say is, this is ONE bizarre situation!

Dennis

[wx247]

Being a newly commisioned officer....I'm staying away from this one......all I can say is, this is ONE bizarre situation!

Dennis

Dennis, I agree. There is more to this than meets the eye I suspect.

[Lindaloo]

I agree with that wx. I figured you would Dennis. lol.

[j]

Wow Duck....did we hit a nerve or something??
Look....I don't think anybody here or anywhere is pleased to see a man's head explode. I am bothered by it, and if it is revealed that this man was indeed a victim, then it shall sicken me even more.

But back to the point. I have to agree with LL that the right thing to do was to wait for the bomb squad. Even then, assuming they arrived in time, I think this man would have been blown to bits regardless. The best they could have done was to mechanically remove the bomb with a robot most likely.

I just don't understand why you are so quick to blame law enforcement? Suppose the arriving officer(s) had been a family member of your's? Would you still be playing the blame game?

[GalvestonDuck]

Re-read my post. I still said they could keep their distance and keep guns on him. And I said, it was probably going to blow up anyway.

I am in no way blaming them. They didn't put the bomb on him.

And in regards to my knowledge of law enforcement -- I worked with police who came into the ER. And my stepdad was an investigator with the Office of the Inspector General. That's about it.

God knows I have nothing but respect for police.

[j]

"Unless the cops were blind, I don't know how they missed it. Good thing they cuffed his sorry terrorist butt and let him die an al-Qaida style death."

You were saying??

[Lindaloo]

LOL j.