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| 400 pounds of ANFO stolen in Colorado Springs |
| 2003-07-16 |
| EFL Four hundred pounds of an ammonium nitrate-based explosive â enough to blast apart a three-story building â disappeared this weekend from a concrete company in northwest Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs police reported. The ammonium nitrate and fuel oil stolen from a locked storage unit at Castle Concrete Co. at the Pike View Quarry have no other purpose than as an explosive, Colorado Springs Police Sgt. Michael Spitzmiller said. âWe are concerned this is missing. Weâre concerned because this is a blasting agent. What would someone use this for other than as a blasting agent?â he said. Nothing I can think of. He and Rich Marianos, special agent-in-charge for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said authorities have not received any information suggesting a terrorist group is responsible for the theft. Memo to BATF, they donât send a letter till after the bomb goes off. âWe donât want to drive panic into citizens,â Marianos said. Knowing youâre on the case is enough to do that. He said the ATF has not heard of similar thefts elsewhere in the country. The theft seems to be the first of its kind in this area, authorities said. It only takes one. Workers at the concrete company realized the lock on a storage unit was broken and eight 50-pound bags were missing around 6:30 a.m. Monday. They last checked the storage unit on Saturday, Castle Concrete vice president Jerry Hermans said. The area is protected by a gate, but itâs still possible for an intruder to get onto the grounds, authorities said, adding the company had taken the necessary precautions. Ammonium nitrate and fuel oil alone canât be detonated without several other components, which police declined to list. That would be a booster of some kind, a stick of dynamite will do, and a blasting cap. All you need to do is watch Discovery Channel. Ammonium nitrate is also used as fertilizer, but Colorado Springs Police Lt. Skip Arms said the missing material isnât suitable for that use. It already has the fuel oil added. Police said the explosive is relatively safe to transport. Thatâs true enough, itâs a very safe explosive. âWhat we donât know is have they done anything to change the molecular structure?â Spitzmiller said. Why would they, itâs ready to use right now. Marianos asked residents to be on the lookout for the stolen bags or their contents, which resemble tiny, white balls. The nitrate becomes more volatile as itâs crushed into a finer powder, he said. Residents should take note of the smell of diesel fuel in a place where they didnât smell it before, Marianos said. âThe smell is distinct,â he said. Anyone with information about this theft is asked to call Colorado Springs police at 444-7000 or 911 or Crime Stoppers at 634-STOP. Crime Stoppers callers may remain anonymous and are eligible for a $1,000 reward if their tip leads to an arrest in the case. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #3 CC: The press is too busy trying to invent a scandal to report real news. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2003-7-16 5:20:20 PM |
| #2 Yea, this was reported the other day. I can't understand why it's not a bigger story nationally. Scares the hell out of me. |
| Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2003-7-16 4:13:18 PM |
| #1 enough to blast apart a three-story building Well doesn't that depend on the area covered by the three story building ? or is he using reporter math ? |
| Posted by: Domingo 2003-7-16 3:29:02 PM |