The Latest: NYC subway scare suspect charged
NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on suspicious objects found in New York City (all times local):
8:20 p.m.
A 26-year-old homeless man from West Virginia faces charges for allegedly placing two devices that resembled pressure cookers in a New York City subway station.
Police announced on Saturday evening that Larry Kenton Griffin II has been charged with the placing of a false bomb. Griffin was taken into police custody early Saturday, a day after he was seen in surveillance video at Manhattan's Fulton subway station holding one of the objects police identified as rice cookers and determined they were not explosives.
He was taken to a hospital for treatment and observation. Police did not specify what, if any, injuries or condition he was being treated for.
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10:30 a.m.
A West Virginia sheriff's department says the man suspected of placing two devices that looked like pressure cookers in a New York City subway station has a criminal history in the state.
The Logan County Sheriff's Department identified the man taken into police custody Saturday in New York as Larry Kenton Griffin II, of Bruno, West Virginia.
The sheriff's department says it has arrested the 26-year-old at least three times in the past eight years, including one in 2017 alleging he sent obscene material to a minor.
The sheriff's department says a warrant for Griffin's arrest was issued in March after he missed drug screenings as part of pretrial supervision.
Griffin's cousin told West Virginia television station WSAZ-TV that he is a good person with mental health issues. It's unknown if Griffin has an attorney who can comment.
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9 a.m.
New York City police say they've apprehended a man suspected of placing two devices that looked like pressure cookers in a subway station.
Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea tweeted Saturday morning that a man seen holding one of the rice cookers in surveillance video was taken into custody.
The discovery of the cookers Friday led to an evacuation and roiled the morning commute.
Police said cameras near the World Trade Center captured a man with a cart putting cookers in two locations in the subway station.
A third cooker of the same type was later discovered 2 miles (3 kilometers) away on a sidewalk.
Authorities determined they were not explosives. Pressure cookers can be turned into bombs.
Police say they didn't have details on the man's apprehension. No charges have been announced.
