COURIER LIFE, AUG. 30-SEPT 5, 2019 25
Bomb scare halts
Downtown traffi c
An explosive expert approaches the suspicious package in
a bomb suit at the corner of Flatbush Avenue Ext. and Gold
Street on the afternoon of Aug. 26. Photo by Kevin Duggan
BY KEVIN DUGGAN AND
AIDAN GRAHAM
Police shut down a
two-block stretch of Flatbush
Avenue and evacuated
a nearby mini mart
after a suspicious package
was reported Monday
afternoon, according
to authorities.
A police explosives
specialist approached the
package near Gold Street
at around 4:20 p.m., and
quickly sounded the all
clear after discovering
the presumed bomb was
in fact a battery for an
electric bike, according
to a spokesman for the
police department.
Around a dozen
squad cars, explosive
experts, two choppers,
and multiple fi re trucks
were dispatched to secure
the package and enforce
police cordons at
Myrtle Avenue and Tillary
Street, which forced
drivers to seek alternative
routes and endure
long delays, according to
one motorist.
“This is going to be a
good 40 minutes because
of all this crazy traffi c,”
said Catherine Glover,
who was heading south
on Flatbush Avenue Extension
on her way to
Staten Island when she
ran into the cordon.
First responders
forced Flatbush Avenue
convenience store Bolla
Market to evacuate at
around 3 p.m., and the
manager was not happy
to have to close shop.
“The police offi cer
doesn’t give me like a
second,” said Arbar Hossain.
“I asked to pick up
my phone and he said ‘no
we are going out now.’”
The New York City
Emergency Management
system had sent a
tweet at 3:39 p.m. warning
drivers to avoid the
area.
“Due to police activity,
expect road closures
and a heavy presence of
emergency personnel
near Flatbush Avenue
from Myrtle Avenue to
Tillary Street,” read the
tweet. “Consider alternate
routes and allow for
additional travel time.”
Cops hunt suspects in
Gowanus carjacking
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
Cops are hunting for the
four gun-wielding goons
behind a brutal Gowanus
carjacking on Saturday.
The 25-year-old victim
told police that he drove
his silver sedan to a stop
sign on 16th Street near
Third Avenue at around
2:20 a.m. on Aug. 24, when
the brutes dragged him
out of the car and repeatedly
pistol whipped him
in the face, according to
police.
Surveillance video
from the scene shows
three of the suspects unsuccessfully
trying to
force the victim into the
truck of his car, while the
fourth keeps a lookout as
the vehicle is sitting idle.
The perps grabbed
$6,000, a cell phone, and a
watch before hopping behind
the wheel of the victim’s
car and driving off,
cops said.
MAX