COLUMBUS CIRCLE, Manhattan –WPIX – A man suspected of throwing a hoax device inside an NYPD van at Times Square before driving away and later being located at Columbus Circle, where he remained barricaded for some six hours, was taken into custody without further incident Thursday morning, according to police.
Hector Meneses, 52, of Queens, is believed to be the man who remained barricaded until NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit took him into custody just before 8 a.m., police sources said.
No one was injured during the arrest, ESU tweeted.
Police surrounded an individual they believe threw a hoax device at an NYPD van and drove away – only to be found few hours later barricaded inside a vehicle in the middle of Columbus Circle on Thursday, prompting a shutdown of the area ahead of the morning commute.
The ordeal began at Times Square Wednesday evening when a person inside a dark-colored SUV threw a suspicious device inside a patrol vehicle, and according to one of the officers inside, it began to “flash” and make “clicking” sounds.
The officers then drove the vehicle to a less crowded area and contacted the NYPD bomb squad, who determined it was a hoax device and gave the “all-clear.”
NYPD spokesperson J. Peter Donald said officers spotted the vehicle matching the one that fled the scene in Times Square Wednesday evening around 2:15 a.m. in Columbus Circle. When police approached, he refused to come out of the car and put on a construction helmet and industrial jacket, according to the NYPD.
Emergency Service Units and the NYPD bomb squad negotiated with the barricaded man.
The NYPD had closed off Eighth Avenue from 57th Street to Columbus Circle.
