Undercover Cops Nab Man with Explosives in the Bronx

Undercover police arrested a man for allegedly selling cardboard tubes filled with makeshift explosives in a shopping center parking lot in Co-Op City, Bronx Thursday.

Sources say Nicholas Lihnier, 37, allegedly sold the undercover officers eight cardboard tubes filled with combustible chemicals out of his white Subaru.

Officials thought the tubes were filled with potassium perchlorate and aluminum with attached pyrotechnic fuses. They said if the tubes were ignited, they could have injured bystanders.

“It’s really scary, knowing that I’m here with my family, and all of a sudden anything could have just happened to us, and we didn’t know nothing about [it],” said an onlooker. “I saw a whole bunch of them because I was parked right next to them, so I thought it was firemen at first.”

The suspect was awaiting charges late Thursday. His address was not known, but his Subaru has a Connecticut license plate.

The undercover investigation was conducted by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force.