Stolen semi full of ammonium nitrate stopped in Kenly (NC)

[zazen]

Source: Raleigh News & Observer

KENLY -- The state Highway Patrol and Homeland Security officials have arrested a man who they say stole a tractor trailer filled with ammonium nitrate. The truck was stopped at a gas station off Interstate 95 in Kenly in Johnston County today, said Sgt. Jorge Brewer with the Highway Patrol.

Authorities have arrested Brian Rutledge, 46, of Carrollton, Ohio, and charged him with possession of a stolen vehicle and resisting arrest. He is in the Johnston County jail, Brewer said.
The 18-wheeler was stolen in Orville, Ohio. Brewer did not know how it was stolen.

The truck was carrying an undisclosed amount of the chemical compound ammonium nitrate, which is commonly used as a fertilizer in farming. It can also be used as an explosive.


Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1566792.html

---

Not sure if he was going north on I-95, which is how you get to DC from NC.

Nice.

[truthisfreedom]

1. Christ.

I'm glad they caught that.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. But of course, he's a god fearin, christian sole

and he was on his way to do jeezus' bidnes.

[meegbear]

3. Exatly! Ix-Nay on the Errorist-Tay label!

[walnutpie]

28. or perhaps he was an Allah fearing Muslim

on his way to do Muhammad's business...

Do you see how ugly and hateful that sort of language is?

[kestrel91316]

29. Haven't you found it rather sad that you have to go through life without

the ability to comprehend sarcasm? I mean, it's such a tragic deficiency......

[walnutpie]

31. Bigotry is unacceptable regardless of it's target.

Ignoring, laughing, or, in your case, attempting to defend such behavior is dangerous and childish and serves only to legitimize the message.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

36. look bub, we've had a report from DHS removed,

a report that warned precisely about these type of acts.

Those assholes who are pushing their own extremists to their, no, past their limits, like Rush and Sean, and Bill and Ann, and Glen, raised hell about the report taking accurate aim at the rightwingers posing a serious threat to America. They even got the report removed. For now.

Since then, we've had christians killing OB/GYNs, police, church goers, and others in the name of their god. How is that ignoring, laughing, my message, and how is my message bigoted.

You have a serious problem. Probably starting with your belief in a two volume set of fairy tales.

[kestrel91316]

41. Christofascists have EARNED all the laughter, derision, and hate

they are getting. And then some.

[The Stranger]

57. I think the "treat-everyone-the-same" arguments only come out when convenient to the empowered.

Or by those who believe that there is no such thing as White Privilege.

[The Stranger]

56. Well, sure, it's hateful because Muslims worship the same "God" Christians do.

Yet you try to make a distinction by calling he/she/it "Allah."

[kestrel91316]

4. OK, somebody run over to FR real quick and find his posts before

RimJob can scrub them.

[MUAD_DIB]

22. I love that name. RimJob...

:rofl:

[jpak]

61. I wonder how many guns he owns

and what his library looks like

:D

[tridim]

5. Whoa! this could turn out to be a major bust.

Get that driver some sugar free cookies and find out exactly what his plans were.

[Doctor_J]

6. Brian Rutledge - that name doesn't sound middle-eastern

Another Tim McVeigh wannabe

[FloriTexan]

7. I'm sure they meant to say...

"Ruthledgeahmadinejinehad"

[zbdent]

10. B'jar an Rutelajad ...

[zbdent]

8. bet he's going to bitch about "warrantless wiretapping"

and how he's having his rights infringed ...

[Blandocyte]

9. He has a very large garden and his lawn was needing a boost

yeah, that's the ticket.

[Somawas]

11. Does everyone who has posted in this thread own a tinfoil hat?

I need one to read this stuff. Thus far what is known would appear to be that the guy was driving a stolen truck up I-95, and that the truck had a cargo of fertilizer. That's all that appears to be known.

[Dogtown]

13. Yep, it could go either way

My bet is the cargo was secondary or wanted for a legitimate purpose.


That's a *lot* of AN. If he had been following a stolen tanker full of diesel, we'd have cause for alarm.

[Rebubula]

14. Shhhh...

....do not disturb the frenzy....

[Dr.Phool]

15. Actually, he was headed down I-95 from Ohio.

[sarcasmo]

24. Can freerepublic go three for three?

[zazen]

25. Is that what they said? I-95 runs along the East Coast. Maybe he was at I-40/I-95 interchange.

[jmowreader]

34. Not possible--I-95 doesn't go there

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

52. It doesn't get within 200 miles of Ohio (nt)

[tabasco]

16. Tell the people in Oklahoma City.

Truck loads of ammonium nitrate are nothing to take lightly.

You think he was just a cash-strapped farmer?

Or just out for a joy ride in a semi truck?

[Somawas]

17. Ignore. Dupe.

[Somawas]

18. No one said to take it lightly.

Stolen truck anat.

But these posts are somewhat batshit. Drawing some pretty wild inferences from the little that is actually known. No wonder the Bushies could spread FUD so easily. Stop a stolen truck and the sky is fucking falling.

[glitch]

37. Perhaps tin is more effective than I had thought.

Examples like these from non-wearers are certainly a compelling argument for its wearing.

[frog92969]

19. I wear mine proudly

But you don't need one in this case.
There's only two things you can do with that cargo.
If he's not a farmer, he could very well be a bomber.

[5X]

39. Wrong. Can also be used to make meth. n/t

[frog92969]

42. Nasty!

Now I'm even more glad I stayed away from it.

oops

[TankLV]

77. Maybe he was just cleaning out his cat's litter box from the past week...

I mean, have you ever SMELLED let alone seen one of those?!!!

You know, that "clumping" litter concept only goes so far...

[Somawas]

43. Other uses include...

Other uses include the formation of nitrous oxide. It is formed by dissolving ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) crystals into water, and heating the solution. Yet another use for ammonium nitrate is for cold packs for athletic injuries. A cold pack consists of a block of solid ammonium nitrate and a separate area containing water. The pack is broken to combine the two substances and since the disassociation of ammonium nitrate causes a temperature drop, this is a practical use for ammonium nitrate.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

51. So he hijacked this truck in order to make cold packs?

Did you read what you just wrote? Do you REALLY think he's some sort of renegade physical therapist?

[Somawas]

53. Assuming that he actually stold the truck,

and the only evidence he did is the infeerence that arisies from possession of recently stolen property, maybe he intended to steal a truck. Or maybe he intended to sell the cargo to someone else, thus making a few bucks.

You do not know what his intentions were. Neither do I.

[jpak]

63. He was a lone-wolf cold-pack freak!!!1111

:rofl:

[Trajan]

73. LMFAO ....

Ok .... Im rollin now too ...

Dont you freak for cold packs ! ...

[TankLV]

78. A renegade physical therepist - that was MY first thought when I read this...

I can't speak for the rest of you...

OK, OK - so the FIRST thought was of my cat's litter box - sue me...

[Trajan]

72. So ... You are saying that someone stole a truck full of Ammonium Nitrate

So they could treat athletic injuries ?

You don't say ....

Where would that happen ? ..... beginning Hockey camp ?

Was it headed to the UFC championship ?


Sheeesh ..... That is WAY more lame than believing it is meant to be used as an explosive ...

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

45. Ammonium Nitrate was the stuff of the OKC Bomb....

You don't need a tinfoil hat to be more than a little concerned about this. Who steals a tanker truck unless they want what's inside it?

[frog92969]

48. I've been informed...

that he could be a druggie with a sprained ankle.

My money's still on bomber, but who knows.
Hopefully there'll be a real investigation.

[havocmom]

68. could be a stoner farmer with a sprained ankle and bad soil

does pot need soil augmentation?

Gotta agree witcha, smart money on bomber. White guy terrorists are all the rage. Lots of cool interviews an stuff.

[Somawas]

49. This remninds me of the story, variously attributed,

about "Lt. General Reinwald."

Interviewer: "But you're equipping them to become violent killers!"

Lt. G. Reinwald: "Well, you're equipped to be a prostitute, but you're not one, are you?"


It's a semi, not a tanker. And you need a tinfoil hat to go from a report of a stolen semi to "They've intercepted a RW terrorist hell bent on blowing up DC!" That's pure Henny Penny hysteria.

Take a couple Xanax and call me after there is an investigation.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

50. Can't figure out how you lost that job in Homeland Security...

A missing tanker/semi loaded with ammonium nitrate is a security threat that needs to be taken seriously. Ruling out the possibility that he's going to blow up D.C. would be sort of like, oh, assuming that all those arab guys taking flight lessons aren't planning to hijack an airplane someday.

We live in a dangerous world, Somawas. I'll breathe easier after they find out what this guy was up to.

[Somawas]

54. Did I rule out his being a terrorist?

I did not. I merely suggested that that is only one possible interpretation. I also suggested that I would wait to see what the investigation showed.

Stop by the pharmacy for an ammonium nitrate based cold pack. It will do the muscle strain from leaping to conclusions a lot of good.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

59. You didn't rule it out...

You simply suggested that people who think this was part of a domestic terrorism plot are insane (i.e., wearing tinfoil hats).

Obfuscate much?

[Somawas]

64. An entirely defensible position.

Isn't it just a little bit paranoid to grab onto terrorism as the go to explanation after the last eight years? I think so.

[jmowreader]

55. A tanker can be a semi

The full term is "tractor-semitrailer." A semitrailer has wheels at the tail, and its nose is supported by the truck. Any trailer that only has wheels at the back is a semitrailer, including boat trailers, U-hauls, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. A full trailer has wheels at both ends--think "conestoga wagon."

[jberryhill]

74. Semi Trailer of Xanax Hi-Jacked By Internet Forum Poster.... /nt

[Xithras]

69. People steal trucks all the time. And AN alone does not a good bomb make.

Ammonium Nitrate is only one ingredient of a bomb. The Oaklahoma City bomb also required diesel fuel and Tovex, mixed in exacting quantities. It wouldn't be possible to duplicate that with a stolen tanker alone. A tanker full of gasoline would make a better bomb.

Most trucks are stolen for the same reason that most cars are stolen...so people can resell them for cash or parts. A nice tractor rig can run well north of $100k, and some trailers can cost nearly that much. A quick paintjob and some swapped VIN plates can net a thief a lot of money.

[jpak]

62. Yeah - DHS was wearing those too

:D

[Somawas]

65. Oh, gee, golly, and wow. I guess that you and Jeff must be right.

Nine-Eleven! Terrorism! He's endangering American lives! Terralert! Threat level! Smoking guns! Mushroom clouds! Imagine a tractor-trailerin the hands of a terrorist! Pre-9/11 thinking! Support the troops!

[jpak]

66. Breaking: DHS wears tinfoil hat - chases tail over harmless truckload of harmless NH4NO3

:rofl:

Not like there's been any recent news about right-wing nuts on domestic terra killing sprees!!111

:rofl:

TINFOIL HATS!!111

Sheesh!!!11

:rofl:

[Somawas]

67. Don't be a sore winner. Or a douchebag. Nobody likes a sore winner.

And douchebags aren't real popular either.

Apparently rational thinking isn't real popular, either.

[jpak]

70. Tim McVeigh was a not a popular rational thinker and he used ammonium nitrate

and he will always be douchebag

4-evah

[TankLV]

79. So he's a SORE winner - just give him the freekin COLD PACK already!

Personally, a couple strong martinis works BETTER & QUICKER for me...

[Somawas]

81. While you're at it

here's something else you can lose sleep over: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8099561.stm

[Trajan]

71. After Oklahoma City ....

One might rightly question the motives of anyone who might steal a huge pile of ammonium nitrate ....

One needn't be crazy to consider the possibility, and the need to closely investigate the facts ...

Identifying anyone who might presume a harmful motive on behalf of the suspect as 'crazy' or 'loony' is an abusive Ad Hominem ...

I WANT investigators to follow up on that possibility, and I am glad DUers are questioning the possibility as well ...

[Somawas]

80. As I have said repeatedly in this thread, I have no problem with

questioning the possibility. I have a proble with leaping to the conclusion. And leaping to the conclusion is totally fucking nuts.

[Zorra]

12. Awesome. Homeland Security caught another RW extremist domestic terrorist.

His pals down at the Conservative Fascists for Jeebus Club are probably pretty paranoid about now. Bet their meetings have all been videotaped

...,Springtime, for Hitler, and Germany....la la la.

[Hubert Flottz]

20. I hope the load of fertilizer the perpetrator hijacked in Ohio wasn't

the yearly allotment of nitrates in route to those fine Megs county farms.

[proteus_lives]

21. Sounds like we dodged a bullet with this one.

[RaleighNCDUer]

23. Brewer did not know how it was stolen.

IMO, HOW it was stolen is a lot less important that WHEN it was stolen - which is not mentioned in the article.

It was driven south from OH into NC. It would make no logistical sense for him to be heading S on 95, because into NC through VA would be a long detour, so he would have come into western NC and across on 40. If he was headed south he would not have gone anywhere near Kenley - then again, if he was headed N he would have bypassed Kenley as well. So when was the truck stolen? Did he have time to stop and unload part of the cargo before heading north again? Or was his buyer somewhere in the area - but isn't it a little late in the season for tilling fertilizer into the fields?

Interested persons want to know.

When was the truck stolen, and where has it been since then?

[zazen]

26. right--unless he's a complete dumbass and drove to Kenley, NC via Richmond

[RaleighNCDUer]

30. Which, as I said, is a major detour.

Of course, with criminals you can NEVER rule out the dumbass factor.

[zazen]

33. I know you said it--I was just reiterating it for another poster up thread n/t

[HillWilliam]

32. It's mighty-mighty late to fertilize for this year

or mighty-mighty early to fertilize for next. The farther south you go, the more wrong it gets. Tinfoil hat or not, my gut says this ain't good.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

27. Industrial size meth lab, looking to blow up something, crops were looking a bit peaked, or...

needed a really big tanker to haul haul something in?
:shrug:

Whatever the case, the guy's in some pretty big trouble.

[jmowreader]

58. Or...

he's part of a conspiracy to make a terrorist threat, assuming this gentleman stole the truck for its load.

I have no idea why there was a truckload of AN on the road right now--this is something no sane farm supply store would want in its warehouse right now, not because of any explosive, flammable or other hazardous property of the chemical, but because the AN application season's over and they wouldn't want to waste the warehouse space on something they can't sell quickly. (Especially since having it in stock increases the likelihood someone with evil intent will break in to steal it.)

But let's say you're one of the groups Operation Rescue funds under the table so they can say "we don't commit violent acts when we try to save the unborn babies." (Right--you contract them out. Not much of a difference.) About a week after the AN goes missing, you send CNN a message: We are the Pro Life Front of Judea. We demand that (insert name of one of the two remaining late-term abortion clinics remaining) be closed immediately. If it is not, the LORD will use a truckload of ammonium nitrate to close it permanently."

My bet is he won't talk about his motives, or anyone he's working with. Waterboarding doesn't work, and I don't condone it even for Christian terrorists. I wouldn't even worry about that...I'd just nail him on DOT violations. This is on the same level with sending Al Capone to Alcatraz on income tax charges, but our intent here is to put the man in jail, and logbook violations with a load of hazmat would definitely do it.

This is the thing, though: I'm not 100 percent sure he took the truck for the load. (On edit: thanks to our friends at the DOT, if the guy did steal the truck for the load, due to the nature of hazmat shipments he didn't have much trouble finding a truck full of what he wanted. Next time you see a truck going down the road, look for diamond-shaped placards. If they're on there it's a hazmat load. On the placard is a four-digit number, defined by the United Nations, that tells anyone responding to an accident what's in the truck. You can go to any truck stop in America and buy a little book that lists all the codes, and the product they describe. For instance, UN 1203 is gasoline--which can be shipped in any kind of a trailer, because some racing gasolines are shipped in drums. I know what the UN number for ammonium nitrate is, but I won't put it here.) It's possible, yes. It's even more possible he stole it for parts. Old tractors are easy to steal and hot truck parts are easy to sell.

[onethatcares]

35. we get these kind of guys all the time,

they pull up next to you in the atm lane and say something like "hey, I got a truck load of amonium nitrate my boss overloaded me with, want to buy some cheap?" or the worst ones show up at your door, won't leave and when they do, they give you the finger. Usually their approach is something like this, " We just noticed we were overloaded at the warehouse this morning and we can't take this amonium nitrate back or they'll think we stole it, would you like to help us out?".

I guess you never know.:wtf:

[rateyes]

38. Well, he could be a terrorist, or he

could only be a thief, and a poor one at that.

[donco]

40. Isn’t ammonium nitrate one of

the main ingredients in making crystal meth?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

46. Yes...

Not that I have the recipe or anything, but it is.

[cmd]

44. He lives about 30 miles away from me

and I have my research dogs on him right now. Rutledges lived across the road from me when I was a kid.
I'll post again if I learn anything.

[nc4bo]

47. Look forward to any insight you may be able to round up....

Ugh - it IS farming season but with all this right-wing extremist activity going on lately, fertilizing the corn crop wasn't exactly my first thought.

Definitely keep us posted!

[IndianaGreen]

60. This man should be held under anti-terrorism laws

http://www.wtsbradio.com/images/rutledge,%20brian%20h.jpg

Stolen Semi Carrying Ammonium Nitrate Found In Kenly

Federal and state authorities have recovered a stolen truck filled with ammonium nitrate in Johnston County. Federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security tracked the stolen semi from Orville, Ohio to the Flying J Truckstop just off I-95 near Kenly Friday. The Highway Patrol dispatched a trooper to the truck stop and encountered the driver, Brian H. Rutledge, 46, of Carrollton, Ohio. Rutledge was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and resisting arrest, according to Highway Patrol Sgt. Jorge E. Brewer. Officials would not confirm how much ammonium nitrate was loaded on the stolen truck, but sources tell WTSB it was several tons. Ammonium nitrate is commonly used in agriculture as a fertilizer, but it can also be used as an explosive, including improvised explosive devices.

http://www.wtsbradio.com/pages/localnews.html

He resisted arrest to boot!

[Old Hob]

75. Crystal meth labs are popping up all over NC just like everywhere else

could be bomb making material but I'd bet it was destined for a meth lab somewhere.

[kristopher]

82. If intended for use in meth lab, why steal it?

A bomb would have the tags they now put in fertilizers to identify its origins, so a terrorist that doesn't want to get caught would be inclined to steal. I assume the processing in a meth lab, on the other hand, would remove the physical tags and leave no trace. Since fertilizer is an extremely common commodity to be bought in large quantities, it is hard for me to imagine that purchasing the equivalent of a trailer load would send up a flag if the purchaser wanted to be discrete.

The meth idea just doesn't hold water, IMO.

[One_Life_To_Give]

76. Ohio to DC via NC?

That seems a bit of a stretch to me.