NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — A car believed to be connected with the weekend IED attack in New York City was impounded early Tuesday morning after it was found in the parking lot at the Anchor Shopping Center in Wrightstown, police said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Newtown Township Police Department responded to the shopping center at Route 413 and Second Street Pike late Monday night and early Tuesday morning to investigate, police said.
“They located one vehicle in Newark. A second vehicle was found at the Anchor Shopping Center,” reported Newtown Township Police Chief John Hearn. “K9 was called to check on the car. There was a positive hit. We secured the entire parking lot overnight.”
In the morning, Hearn said the Philadelphia Bomb Squad responded to the shopping center and conducted a search of the vehicle. “They didn’t find an immediate hazard. The vehicle was towed from the scene, and the parking lot was reopened.”
linked to 18-year-old Emir Balat of Middletown Township and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi of Newtown Township
Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, of Newtown Township, and Emir Balat, 18, of Middletown Township, were arrested on Saturday in New York City for allegedly throwing an IED at a group of anti-Muslim protesters near Gracie Mansion, the home of the mayor of New York City.
The Newtown Township man was later identified as a 2024 graduate of Council Rock High School. The Middletown Township teen was confirmed as a home-schooled student in the Neshaminy School District.
Following the arrests, the FBI carried out weekend search warrants at two homes in Newtown and neighboring Middletown townships. The FBI also raided a storage facility in Middletown Township on Monday night, where several controlled explosions were reported.
According to Hearn, township officers spent more than 17 hours working with the FBI on an initial search warrant at a home on Clymer Street in the township on Sunday.
“We were dispatched for a missing person’s report initially and coordinated with the FBI on a search warrant at that location,” he said. “That resulted in no prisoners being taken but items being confiscated by the evidence response team of the FBI.”
The department spent another eight hours investigating and impounding the vehicle in Wrightstown, according to Chief Hearn.
“Our department will continue working with the FBI to keep the community safe,” said Hearn. “And as always, we ask the public to report anything that seems suspicious to police.”
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