The mayor of Elizabeth, N.J., said he believes a traffic stop led to a search warrant that brought police to the city to conduct raids.
“I’m not aware of the evidence that led them here, except for the traffic stop that occurred outside of the Verrazano Bridge. That traffic stop led to a search warrant, which brought them to this location,” Chris Bollwage said during a press conference Monday the morning after pipe bombs were discovered outside the city’s train station.
NBC New York reported the FBI took five people into custody thought to be connected to Saturday’s New York bombing in a traffic stop on the Verrazano Bridge. They all are from the city of Elizabeth and are thought to be either relatives or associates of Ahmad Khan Rahami, the chief suspect in both incidents who now is in custody after a shootout with police in Linden, N.J.
Bollwage said he was not certain of what led police to select the particular vehicle, but he speculated there was some surveillance that officials in Elizabeth did not participate in.
“I’m not aware of the information from whatever sources led them to pull that vehicle over. I would imagine it was surveillance that was going on, but the city of Elizabeth was not involved in any of that information until we had our own incidents here last night and early morning.”
