Posted on 07/01/2002 5:32:51 AM PDT by areafiftyone
The NYPD issued a citywide alert yesterday after two armed men stole a truck and computers from a city Department of Environmental Protection site in Brooklyn, sparking fears that the heist might be terrorist-related.
The Joint Terrorism Task Force was brought in to investigate the 4:33 p.m. robbery at the Fountain Ave. landfill because of reports that the truck and computers — initially believed to contain codes for the city's water supply — could be used by terrorists, according to police.
But investigators later said the motive for the theft appeared to be commercial.
"It does not appear terrorism related," said a police source.
DEP spokesman Charles Sturcken said the stolen pickup truck was owned by a private contractor, URS, working on a $300 million project to cap the landfill and that the vehicle did not have any official city markings on it.
Sturcken said a security guard at the Spring Creek landfill was held at gunpoint by two men he confronted after spotting them climbing under a fence. The robbers broke into a construction trailer and stole computers before fleeing in the truck.
Sturcken said that although URS is a large environmental company with other contracts with the city, he did not believe the computers held any top-secret information.
"There is no sensitive workings going on out there," he said.
Two weeks ago, the NYPD and FDNY were alerted that terrorists may try to get their hands on police cars, ambulances and other emergency vehicles that could be used by suicide bombers.
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