New York teenager arrested for possessing a homemade weapon
February 23rd, 2010 - 1:28 am ICT by BNO NewsSTATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) – A New York teenager was charged for carrying a homemade backpack weapon, prosecutors said on Monday.
John McCloskey, 19, from Staten Island, New York was arrested Saturday evening for possessing an improvised explosive device (IED) containing nails and gunpowder in a backpack on a local street.
Local police received several reports of a man pacing, sweating and yelling into his cell phone at the intersection of Broad and Canal Streets in the Stapleton section of the borough.
Police officers attended the scene and approached McCloskey, inquiring him about the lump under the rear of his jacket. The suspect responded by removing his coat and handing his backpack to the officers. It contained an IED consisting of gunpowder with wire connecting to metal with nails embedded.
NYPD’s Bomb Squat later detonated the device successfully.
“Although this defendant claims that the IED he manufactured was intended as a prank and not to be used, this was clearly a dangerous situation with the capacity to injure many people,” the District Attorney said. “There is nothing humorous about attempting to manufacture a bomb, especially when you are using dangerous materials including gunpowder, electrical wires and nails which can cause serious injuries.”
McCloskey is now facing a maximum penalty of up to 25 years in prison for criminal possession of a dangerous weapon.
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Tags: backpack, bno, borough police, canal streets, criminal possession, dangerous materials, dangerous situation, dangerous weapon, defendant, district attorney, electrical wires, explosive device, gunpowder, john mccloskey, maximum penalty, police officers, saturday evening, squat, stapleton, staten island new york
