The Other McCain

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BREAKING: Police Arrest Suspect in Planned Parenthood Bombing

Posted on | April 3, 2012 | 52 Comments

A man with a criminal record — he was out on probation — has been taken into custody in connection with the incident in Grand Chute, the Appleton (Wisc.) Post-Crescent reports:

Police say they have identified the person who placed a homemade explosive device that went off Sunday and damaged Planned Parenthood’s Gillett Street clinic.
Police said today they identified the man after reviewing surveillance footage.
The man was booked into the Outagamie County Jail on Monday evening on a probation violation. No charges have yet been referred to prosecutors. . . .
Police say a witness saw a white sport-utility vehicle leave Planned Parenthood at the same time flames were seen coming from the building.
Detectives corroborated that information through security video, which also showed distinctive markings on the vehicle.
Investigators learned a similar vehicle was involved in a crash in a neighboring community after the Planned Parent incident was reported and was towed from the scene. . . .

UPDATE: The same information is reported by Green Bay’s WLUK-TV, but no name of the suspect yet. If we have any readers in Wisconsin — especially Outagamie County — who can help provide information in the comments, your assistance would be appreciated.

UPDATE II: The Green Bay Press Gazette runs the same story as the Appleton paper (both are part of the Gannett chain) and still no name of the suspect anywhere online?

UPDATE III: Just spoke to Sharon Froberg, an assistant editor at the Appleton Post-Crescent, who says their policy is not to name suspects until they have been charged. Their cops reporter is working to track down the suspect’s age, etc., and also to find out what he was on probation for, Ms. Froberg says. The newspaper’s staff have noticed the increased traffic to their site and are working to update the story as soon as possible.

UPDATE IV: Here is the manifest of inmates currently held at the Outagamie County Jail, which lists the following male inmates booked into the jail since 7 p.m. Sunday:

BASTIAN, FREDERICK DANIEL M W 4/2/2012 2:32:00 PM
BELGUM, JUSTIN JAMES M W 4/1/2012 7:55:00 PM
COOPER, JEREMY MICHAEL M I 4/3/2012 12:47:00 PM
FELTON, TIMOTHY DWAYNE M B 4/2/2012 5:05:00 PM
GRADY, FRANCIS GERALD M W 4/3/2012 1:19:00 AM
JACKELS, ROBERT LEE M W 4/2/2012 10:12:00 PM
JOHNSON, TROY LEON M W 4/3/2012 12:32:00 PM
KHATIB, KAMEL MOHAMED M A 4/2/2012 1:30:00 PM
LESKO, ROBERT WYATT M W 4/2/2012 10:35:00 AM
ROBINSON, ANDREW ALEXANDER M B 4/2/2012 12:16:00 PM
SIRTOFF, SCOTT JAMES M W 4/3/2012 12:21:00 PM
STAPLES, SIDNEY SCOTT M B 4/2/2012 3:19:00 PM
TODOROV, HRISTO RUMENOV M W 4/2/2012 12:15:00 PM
VANCE, CHARLES ADRIEN M W 4/2/2012 6:50:00 PM
VANDENBERG, RANDY JOSEPH M W 4/2/2012 12:26:00 PM

So it would seem the suspect must be one of the 15 names on this list.

UPDATE V: An Associated Press story repeats what we already know, and there is this additional tidbit at Huffington Post:

Police located the suspect on Sunday night and have detained him at Outagamie County Jail. They did not release details about his age or appearance and said no charges have been filed.

UPDATE VI: This is perhaps as good a time as any to remind readers that I first became aware of this crime while watching Ed Schultz on MSNBC depict it as part of the Republican “War on Women.”

Because we do not yet know the name of the suspect, nor any information about his motive, it is impossible at this point to say whether the alleged bomber is actually a Republican. Meanwhile, TPM Muckraker notes the mystery surrounding the unnamed man:

Authorities have not released many details of the person they arrested except to say he was a man and was currently being held in a local jail on a probation violation. They stopped short of calling him a suspect in the bombing.

Uh, yeah. Hasn’t been charged, but they say he and his SUV with “distinctive markings” match video at the crime scene. Call me crazy, but I’ve got a hunch maybe the perp’s not a Republican.

UPDATE VII: Now a Memeorandum thread. I’ll be looking forward to the “Republican War on Women” update on MSNBC tonight.

UPDATE VIII: Wisconsin Radio Network interviews the police chief, and gets this: The suspect was involved in a crash in the nearby town of Kaukauna about an hour after the report of the incident at Planned Parenthood. The white SUV “had very distinctive markings,” said Grand Chute Police Chief Greg Peterson, and the suspect had “physical characteristics that were similar in nature . . . general physical characteristics” that matched the surveillance video at the Planned Parenthood office.

Category: Crime, Planned Parenthood, Wisconsin

Comments

52 Responses to “BREAKING: Police Arrest Suspect in Planned Parenthood Bombing”

  1. How Wrong Was Michelle Goldberg About Wisconsin Planned Parenthood Bombing? : The Other McCain
    April 4th, 2012 @ 4:28 pm

    […] 4: Police Charge Career Criminal in Wisconsin Planned Parenthood BombingApril 3: BREAKING: Police Arrest Suspect in Planned Parenthood BombingApril 3: Question the Timing: Planned Parenthood Bombing Before Wisconsin Primary?/**/ […]

  2. John David Galt
    April 7th, 2012 @ 10:57 pm

    Good!

    If somebody thinks Planned Parenthood is doing wrong, protest them in legal ways.  Report them to the police if you think they’re breaking the law.

    But don’t try to shut a legal business down by force.  That is terrorism, and don’t anyone try to tell me different.