Authorities are continuing to investigate a suspicious device discovered amid a bizarre series of events that unfolded outside a police precinct in Manhattan's East Harlem neighborhood a day ago, investigators said Thursday.
The device was discovered in the vehicle of a man who, along with his cousin, approached uniformed officers outside the East Harlem stationhouse on 119th Street near Park Avenue around lunchtime. The man told cops he was the victim of a domestic assault inside the van, at the hands of his cousin, and had been hit with a machete.
The machete was recovered from the vehicle. That's when the driver informed police of the device, officials say.
It was described by police as a “potentially viable improvised explosive device" that, if real, was "capable of causing death or serious injury to anyone in proximity and property damage." Investigators said Thursday that the device was operative and contained gun powder inside.
A neighborhood lockdown was ordered as a precaution.
The device was taken to Rodman's Neck for disassembly.
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The driver suffered a bleeding bruise to the back of the head from the machete hit, authorities say. No other injuries were reported. According to police, the alleged attacker was incoherently rambling and may have emotional issues.
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Police are now investigating why the device was in the vehicle and where it was built. One of the men in the car was arrested Thursday and charged. Chontrell Wrenick faces multiple charges of weapon possession and reckless endangerment. He was awaiting arraignment Thursday night.
“We don’t have any reason to believe that he was headed anywhere specifically,” said Deputy Chief Jason Huerta of the department’s Counterterrorism Division.
The two cousins involved in the incident each have 10 to 20 prior arrests with no recent ones in the last few years, authorities say. They described the charges they did face previously as "not major."
An investigation is ongoing.
