Police find third stolen van that sparked terrorism alert

By Allison Steele, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: September 14, 2011

The theft of four rental trucks over the weekend triggered a terrorism alert among Philadelphia police, who already were keeping an extraordinarily close watch over the city on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The white moving trucks were stolen about 7 p.m. Saturday from a U-Haul lot at 12th Street and Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia.

By Tuesday, three had been found, and the department's bomb squad declared them all clear. Nothing was found in any of the trucks, and police say they do not believe they are linked to any possible terrorism plots.

Police are still searching for the remaining truck, and the vehicles recovered are to be examined by forensic experts from the Department of Homeland Security.

Rental trucks have been used as truck bombs in attacks, said Police Chief Inspector Scott Small, including the bombings of the World Trade Center in 1993 and the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995.

Last week, security officials in New York City and Washington were warned about intelligence of credible threats of a car- or truck-bomb attack on bridges or tunnels in those cities.

About 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, after a tip from a resident, police found two of the stolen trucks in Southwest Philadelphia, a block apart at 54th and Chester Streets and 54th and Trinity Streets. A five-block area in the city's Kingsessing section was closed off, and homes were evacuated while police bomb teams inspected the vehicles.

A third stolen van was found before 8 a.m. on the 3200 block of North Park Avenue in North Philadelphia, police said.

Contact staff writer Allison Steele at 215-854-2641 or asteele@phillynews.com.

Staff writer Joseph A. Gambardello contributed to this article.

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