[Oremem/Idamem] Activity on East Coast

Thu, 3 Jul 2003 10:11:55 -0700

Subject: Rental Car Parking Lot Near LaGuardia Evacuated

POSTED: 11:25 a.m. EDT July 3, 2003
UPDATED: 12:30 p.m. EDT July 3, 2003

NEW YORK -- The NYPD has evacuated the area around the National Car 
Rental parking lot at 9510 Ditmars Blvd. in the East Elmhurst 
neighborhood of Queens, across from LaGuardia Airport. 
Police have blocked off all access to the rental office on Ditmars 
while the bomb squad sweeps the area for explosives. 

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says someone returned a car to 
the agency. When workers there opened the trunk, they discovered 
what appeared to be some type of automatic weapon with a "device" 
attached to it. 

The car was parked on the second deck of a garage at the location. 

Police were summoned to the scene at about 10:45 a.m., with 
Emergency Service Unit squads dispatched to the business as well, 
said police spokeswoman Carmen Melendez. 

A spokesman says for National Car Rental says the car in question 
was reprocessed after it was missing for two weeks and was taken to 
its facility on Ditmars. David Gilman says nobody's safety was 
compromised and the car was never on the airport grounds. 

LaGuardia officials say the incident is not having any impact 
on the airport's operations. 

On Wednesday, reports of suspicious activity caused New York City 
police to briefly shut down three major subway lines and the 
Brooklyn Bridge.

Phil Barker
Curry County Computer Services
Gold Beach, Oregon 97444
541.247.3370 Desk
541.253.7550 Cellphone