Brooklyn Car Thief Steals Van Loaded With Explosives

Brooklyn, NY (AHN) -- A car thief who broke into a van - parked in a residential Brooklyn, New York City neighborhood - discovered that the van was loaded with explosives.

Reports say the thief realized that he was driving a potential bomb, so he drove the van out of the residential neighborhood it was in to a remote waterfront area, then called the police. According to the New York Daily News, he told police that he thought the explosives may have been planted by terrorists to coincide with the Fourth of July celebrations.

However, police are investigating a possible connection between the van and a known bomb maker, Chinese National, Yung (Mark) Tang, 38, who has been behind bars for the last five months after being found with explosives in his vehicle while traveling from New York to Massachusetts.

The van was parked blocks from Tang's home when the thief took it on Thursday night, and the homemade bomb inside was similar to what Tang had been found with before. Styrofoam cups, 10-ounce water bottles, cans of WD-40 and five-gallon jugs filled with gasoline were found inside the red Ford Econoline.

Besides the recent arrest, in May Tang was charged with a 2002 explosion that resulted in one of his tenants losing a foot. Reports say he staged the explosion near a rental property where he was trying to evict the commercial tenant.

Tang's attorney told local reporter's that his client was not connected to this case, as he has been in jail since January.

Tang's estranged wife, who Federal prosecutors say he has threatened to kill, recently sold the house the couple lived in together, near where the van had reportedly been parked for a month.