Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

53-Year-Old Philadelphia Man Scheduled to Appear in Court Today in Latest Mailbox Bomb Case

Aired May 16, 2002 - 05:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A 53-year-old Philadelphia man is scheduled to appear in court today in the latest mailbox bomb case.

As CNN's Bob Franken reports, an unusual incident led to the suspect's arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Officials had told CNN their investigation into real and fake bombs left in Philadelphia mailboxes would be speeded up if they spotted a suspect in the act. They did not. But a neighbor says she did spot him dumping debris on a northeast Philadelphia lawn.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw him parked across the street with the trunk open and he was taking stuff out and I went out and asked him what he was doing and he said he was helping a friend. And I left it at that. I took down the license plate number and came into the house and just kind of watched everything evolve after that.

FRANKEN: What evolved before the day was through was that investigators had arrested 53-year-old Preston Litt (ph). Officials say they spotted his car when he drove by as police and federal agents were still swarming over the scene, called after a suspicious box was spotted, along with papers and the words "al Qaeda" written on them.

This was the third incident in three days. The most serious occurred Monday when a bomb went off in a mailbox as experts tried to defuse it. No one was hurt. There were similar al Qaeda scrawlings in the debris and there were more on Tuesday when another container was spotted in another mailbox in the same neighborhood. This time, there was no bomb, just tennis shoes.

If investigators are correct, the third scare proved to be the suspect's undoing.

ROSANNE RIZZO, FBI: The arrest was just made a few blocks down. He is in the -- he is from the 1700 block of Bergen Street. The charges, he is being charged federally. He's currently in custody and is being brought en route to the FBI office for processing.

FRANKEN (on camera): Officials said Litt had no known connection to any terrorist group. From the beginning, investigators told CNN they did not suspect terrorism. They were looking for a bizarre prankster. More mundane, perhaps, but still very dangerous.

Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com