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Stupid Criminal of the Week

By TChris, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Fri Aug 12, 2005 at 08:00:32 AM EST
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by TChris

It has become routine for people to forget they're carrying items in their carry-on luggage that aren't permitted on an airplane, but a pipe bomb?

A University of Oklahoma student told federal investigators he forgot a pipe bomb he built for fun was in his luggage when tried to board an airplane, court documents show.

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    Stupid Criminal of the Week | 44 comments (44 topical)
    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#1)
    by desertswine on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:13 PM EST
    He was released on $10,000 bail
    Wha?

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#2)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:13 PM EST
    10 grand...that's funny. If he had darker skin, he'd be on his way to Gitmo. What happened to equality under the law? How many pipe bombs does this guy have for him to lose track of one so easily? Scary hobby he's got there.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#3)
    by DawesFred60 on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:13 PM EST
    Hey that is what my bail was! I love this guy pile bomb and all, but will he like prison? was this guy from some mideast country? or what?...hmmm can i do that to?..i understand that bush sent the bomb to him! after all didn't bush have a talk with the head of colombia? and venezuela guy? both are working for the old guy in cuba, hey! maybe bush is now building pile bombs and sending bombs to schools for the insane? "justice is coming" "so say we all"

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:13 PM EST
    "If he had darker skin, he'd be on his way to Gitmo. What happened to equality under the law?"
    Funny, I didn't see mention anywhere in the article where it said "white OU Student" His name SOUNDS like the name of a Caucasian male, but you'd be surprised. I'm not saying he's not, but don't play the race card unless you can see the rest of the cards in your hand.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#5)
    by Quaker in a Basement on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:13 PM EST
    "What's that? A pipe bomb in my luggage? "Oh, that just slipped my mind. See, I always use this suitcase when I'm carrying one of my recreational pipe bombs out to show my friends. "I just forgot about this one, doncha see? I feel like such a silly goose." ******* Am I the only one who thinks this story is evocative of the barnyard?

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:13 PM EST
    Stupid Criminal? Uh, how about "suspected terrorist." Any doubt that if this guys name was Ahmad or the like he'd be looking at some very stiff terrorism charges. But instead he's out on bail. The guy had the bomb rigged to go off with his cell-phone. Now, I'm not in LE but it seems obvious to me to that the most likely scenario was that he intended to leave it hidden on the plane and then detonate it after disembarking. It seems like they've got more than probable cause and/or reasonable suspicion to get a warrant and see if this guy was making notes about a terrorist plot, surfing bomb-making or planting info on whatever websites and the like.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#7)
    by peacrevol on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:13 PM EST
    It's ok y'all. George Bush just had a press conference about this guy. They know he's not a terrorist b/c it was an ACME pipe bomb sent to him by none other than Wile E. Coyote. The search for Mr. Coyote is under way in Crawford. Pres. Bush will be heading back to Crawford to personally lead the investigation.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#8)
    by esmense on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:13 PM EST
    This is the kind of racial profiling conservatives approve of -- if you're White, Right and, even better, "Christian," authorities know that you only mess around with bombs for fun and entertainment. And, as has happened in this case, you can even expect local politicians to show up in court to vouch for your innocent intentions. It's exactly the kind of profiling that allowed for all the "fun" at Littleton.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    His photo is included in several news articles. He's caucasian.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#10)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    The guy had the bomb rigged to go off with his cell-phone. Now, I'm not in LE but it seems obvious to me to that the most likely scenario was that he intended to leave it hidden on the plane and then detonate it after disembarking.
    Maybe, but the description of the bomb doesn't quite support that.
    ...a detonator made from model rocket parts. Dreyling could have detonated the bomb using his cellphone battery, authorities said
    Sounds like he just left the igniter wires sticking out. Apply current, boom. Very common way for bored teenagers to get their jollies (not that I'd know anything about that). A remote detonation would require modifying the cell phone.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#11)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    I had a day like that last week. I left my nucular weapon in the trunk of my car on a hot day, and you should never do that. Close one. Anybody else ever had that happen?

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#12)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    'Hey, it that a pipe bomb in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?'

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    Someone didn't actually read the article. The pipe bomb was NOT "rigged" to be detonated by a cell phone, it was the statement of the agents that a cell phone battery "could" have been used to detonate it. It was built from model rocket parts which use an electric ignition. In my book, that's called: making someone more guilty than they are. If someone is smart enough to build a bomb wired to go off by calling it with a cellphone, do you really think they'd be stupid enough to try to get through airport security with it simply in their bag? If you know anything about pipe bombs, then you know you'd never get it through airport security, even _before_ 9/11. Come on people, use the old noodle.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#14)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    A much more detailed article is here. Major points:
    The device was described in an FBI affidavit as a carbon dioxide cartridge filled with gunpowder
    That's consistent with my "bored kid" theory. CO2 cartridges are favorites.
    An FBI bomb technician concluded the device could detonate with sufficient force to cause serious injury.
    Which suggests it's not big enough to take down an airplane.
    Former Oklahoma City Mayor Kirk Humphreys, who is Dreyling's landlord and his longtime friend, also came to the hearing.
    Maybe even a brown-skinned man would get low bail if he had only a small explosive and political connections...

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#15)
    by peacrevol on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    Roy, Ok but any damage on the airplane that I'm on is way too much damage. I want that thing tip-top. I realize they never are, but we dont need homemade pipe bombs to add to the problems with the plane that I'm flying on thousands of feet above the ground at hundreds of miles per hour.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    Which suggests it's not big enough to take down an airplane. Did it say what kind of aircraft he was on? I'm sure it was capable of blowing a small hole in the airframe, especially the explosive were to be properly tamped. Depending on the model of aircraft such an event could cause an explosive decompression or a fluid-hammer decompression and disintegrate the airframe.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#17)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    Depending on the model of aircraft such an event could cause an explosive decompression or a fluid-hammer decompression and disintegrate the airframe.
    I sense the need to stop sounding like I know what I'm talking about. The design of the bomb and Dreyling's excuse are consistent with what I remember of the bored Okie teenager culture. Any technical hoodoo on my part is speculation.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#18)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    "such an event could cause an explosive decompression or a fluid-hammer decompression and disintegrate the airframe." My brother, an Air Marshall, is, like all Air Marshalls, packing a gun on every flight. I asked him quite a while ago about the whole "shoot a hole in the plane or blow out a window, deadly decompression" deal and he said that they were taught that that's a load of bunk. Having said that, considering the well-founded criticisms of the TSA, who knows...

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#19)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    An FBI bomb technician concluded the device could detonate with sufficient force to cause serious injury.
    Which suggests it's not big enough to take down an airplane.
    If a box cutter is "big enough" to "take down a plane" a bomb that can "cause serious injury" sounds like enough to do the same.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#20)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    Thanks TL for confirming my educated guess as to the skin pigment of the wannabe bomber. A couple shades darker or a funny sounding name and he'd have electrodes on his sac by sundown, instead of being home in time for dinner.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#21)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    Sorry about the doofus from OU, y'all. Really, this is not that bad of a place. We have a good athletic program(the football team wasn't quite up to the job against USC but I don't think any other team in the nation would have done better) and a fairly pretty campus. But oddly enough we do have a bunch of bored out of their minds people living here in Norman(if you aren't a binge drinker there really isn't much to do)so naturally they tend to get into some terribly dumb things, like knowing how to make a pipe bomb with spare model rocket parts. But everyone making the assesment about the skin color issue are spot on, IMHO. Ever since 9/11 and Mousaoui(sp?) having been on the campus of OU the majority of citizens in this state have been incredibly reticent to give anyone(including myself. I am Native American but as far as Rednecks are concerned I am close enough) of Middle Eastern descent a break. Just the other day, 1 day before this incident, there was a suspicious package left in the library on campus. The OU PD were alerted and it turned out everything was ok. But that didn't stop them from following the person seen with said package home and interrogating him. Not the first scare we have had here, and it won't be the last.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#22)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    I failed to mention that the guy with the "suspicious" package was Pakistani.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#23)
    by Patrick on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    This guy needs to be locked up regardless of his skin color. That said, if the Gov't did declare him a terrorist, and invoke the patriot act, it is my opinion the left would be all over the government claiming they were being too harsh.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#24)
    by peacrevol on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    You know...does anyone remember the discussion last week about profiling. This is the kind of thing they should be profiling for. People with pipe bombs should be profiled. The idea, we search anyone we suspect has a bomb and then when we find one we take their bomb away, let them get on the plane and drop them out of it when we get up to 10,000 feet.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#25)
    by peacrevol on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    so if you accidently bring a pipe bomb on a plane with me you better sprout some wings cuz i'm throwing you out of that s o b.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#26)
    by swingvote on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    Sarcastic, My father was an Air Force pilot and a commercial aviation pilot. I too have flown small planes. Air planes do not explode or fall out of the sky when a small hole is made in them. If they did, they wouldn't fly at all, as few airplanes in the fleets today are 100% air tight. Hollywood has convinced us all that even the smallest pinprick will cause a plane to crash: but it just isn't so. Anyone remember that flight over Hawaii that lost an 8 foot section of the fuselage and still managed to land? The only people killed were the ones sitting right where it happened AND didn't have their seatbelts on. With that said, this guy is a dimwit extraordinaire and should be made an example of. I don't care what his excuse is, and I don't care how small it was. He should not be out on bail, period.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#27)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    I'm with you jp.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#28)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    Like I said, it depends on the model airframe, differently constructed and engineered airframes fail in different ways. See: Aloha Flight 243 Remember Richard Reid the Shoe Bomber? Granted the PETN he had in his shoes is a very high explosive, but unless he was wearing Elton John's Pinball Wizard platform boots how much stuff could he have had? My main point stands. This should be seen as an attempted terrorist attack until proven otherwise. One doesn't bring a pipe bomb onto an airplane as a prank. Hell, try even saying "pipe bomb" next time you're at the security gate. Of course, skin color makes all the difference here.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#29)
    by jen on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:14 PM EST
    Trying to carry a bomb on board a plane does sound like a good reason to profile someone. NOT a good enough reason to suspend the constitution. If joking about a bomb can get an idiot put in jail, carrying an actual pipe bomb should definately get an idiot put in jail. peacrevol - don't forget to throw the bomb out! "detonate and eject! - NO, WAIT"

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#30)
    by peacrevol on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:15 PM EST
    peacrevol - don't forget to throw the bomb out! "detonate and eject! - NO, WAIT"
    tushay jen...tushay (just sound it out...nobody knows how to spell that word)

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#31)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:15 PM EST
    From the description it sounded like a pipe bomb ready to be detonated. Now I gotta go with a home made M80. And the detonated by cell phone crap was over the top. It could be detonated by 12 volts from any source, but saying cell phone seemed to connect it to iraqi IEDs. BTW, high flying aircraft aren't 'sealed' at all, they just adjust the outflow valves to maintain the pressure differential they need. Blowing out a porthole will cause rapid decompression at altitude and the pilots will have to make a very abrupt dive to get down to breathable atmosphere. Which can cause injuries, or endanger the flight due to weather, but the a/c should stay flying and in control. Of course there are hydrolic and electrical lines running all thru the cabin spaces.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#32)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:15 PM EST
    This guy needs to be locked up regardless of his skin color.
    Amen to that, Pat. Regarding your second point, this guy still has the rights of every other American citizen...due process,speedy trial, face his accusers, etc. If the admin. denied him these rights on the whim of a presidential declaration, you bet your bottom I'd criticize it. It's unconstitutional. That being said, I would think possesion of a freakin' bomb in an airport would lead to remand w/o bail, or at least a bail figure way higher than 10G's. What in sam hill is going on?

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#33)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:15 PM EST
    peacrevol, that's touche. Not trying to be a jerk, I just thought you might like to know.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#34)
    by peacrevol on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:15 PM EST
    I'll make a note of it ShermBuck...thanks

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#35)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:15 PM EST
    "touché", with the accent mark, might be more correct

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#36)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:16 PM EST
    Found this on the net. Can anyone say Al CIAada? or maybe possibly MI6 Or even the Mossad? He could be a false Flag Operator that failed like the MI6 did in Chicago. Looks like poster child for some covert spy agency to me.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#37)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:16 PM EST
    As most regulars here know I am rarely on the side of the gov't. But, when more facts are known, if the guy truly had a blackpowder filled CO2 cartridge, it has less lethality than a .45 caliber round. Stupid criminal, yes, but probably deserving the same penalty that an Indiana congressman got for trying to bring a loaded gun onboard.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#38)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:16 PM EST
    Heres the link to the site I was referring to above. Its his resume along with a photo. link

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#39)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:16 PM EST
    XPLOIT, If you found the same resume and photo I did, it has his home address and phone number on it. It'd be in extremely bad taste to link to it.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#40)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:16 PM EST
    A shoe salesman? An interest in flying airplanes? Bored student my a$$...looks like a terrorist to me. Or perhaps he was flying off to film a segment of "Celebrity Farm Film Report" with Big Jim McBob and Billy Sol Hurok. "May the Good Lord take a likin' to ya and blow ya up real soon."

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#41)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:17 PM EST
    All I know is that Al Qaeda brought down airplanes with mere box cutters. This youngman should either A: gt sent to Gitmo to learn the consequences ofhis actions, or B: get sent to Abu Ghraib to learn the consequences of his actions. We cannot afford to let anyone who may even have the slightest anti-regime thoughts to walk free while the struggle against extremism is ongoing. By rights, he should be labeled an enemy combatant, and as such should notbe out on bail, and should be detained indefinately. Oh wait... When you are white, carrying explosives on an airplane is excusable (as so many are doing on this thread), because obviously young white American males are never a terror threat.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#42)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:17 PM EST
    I shouldn;t say "excusable", I should say "Aw shucks, slap his wrist, he's just a kid who forgot to throw away his little boredom tool"

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#43)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:18 PM EST
    Posted by Johnny: "All I know is that Al Qaeda brought down airplanes with mere box cutters." The evidence for that claim is very, very thin. Given the claimed '400 cases of terrorism' prosecuted under Aschroft, which turned out to be 99% bogus, and mostly immigration fraud, this is a case that shows the hypocrisy and racial profiling, regardless of whether this CO2 cartridge was a dangerous weapon. Tape it to the airliner window and set it off -- pretty damn dangerous. Just HOW big a weapon would get a non-brown person wrapped up in the long arm of the political law is hard to say. Two CO2 cartridges? Three? The most telling thing about this bust is how quickly bigwigs from the host state got involved. This is a kid who got off because he has money behind him; not because he is not dangerous.

    Re: Stupid Criminal of the Week (none / 0) (#44)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:19 PM EST
    Preachin to the choir Paul... My post was sarcastic.

    Stupid Criminal of the Week | 44 comments (44 topical)