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What happened to the guy with the "dead man switch?" (Original Post) Renew Deal Apr 2013 OP
News cycle says, "results unclear." mr_hat Apr 2013 #1
YES! d_r Apr 2013 #2
i think he may have died sheabutter170 Apr 2013 #3
I emailed the Watertown Chief of Police to find out. ptasolo Apr 2013 #9
Here's what Chief Deveau replied about the man: ptasolo Apr 2013 #10
Thank you for the update. uppityperson Apr 2013 #11
Wow. Thanks for chasing that down. Renew Deal Apr 2013 #12
yeah, and who was the naked guy renate Apr 2013 #4
he was let go sheabutter170 Apr 2013 #5
Naked guy was a case of wrong place, wrong time, I think. Warren DeMontague Apr 2013 #6
Old man remains a mystery. nt MOTRDemocrat Apr 2013 #7
I never heard about him anywhere other than here, from the scanner Cal Carpenter Apr 2013 #8

sheabutter170

(3 posts)
3. i think he may have died
Sun Apr 21, 2013, 05:12 AM
Apr 2013

Last edited Sun Apr 21, 2013, 06:12 AM - Edit history (1)

I heard the scanner, he had "salt and pepper hair", he was handcuffed on the ground and he was "worked on" by four robots, as he was holding a possible explosive device. He has yelling and arching his back. They called for Russian translators, and they mentioned his wife in the house. They were also searching the basement for explosives. They censored out bits, but i think he may have died. Later they mentioned a helicopter to "take the body out" of Watertown, and there was an "apology" mentioned for the heart attack. I think the poor old guy may have died while they were working on him? No mention of this in the media, and from Reddit just now, actually info that the media were told not to report this!!!!!! WHY?????

"What happened with the 60-70 year old guy with a possible dead-man-switch arching his back and saying no ? Why is nobody talking about that ? Did I miss something or did we just stop talking about him ?
telegoddes (2 points)
reply refresh
07:35PM
I dont have a recording, but I personally heard it on the Boston EMS scanner... "we have a guy down on the grass cuffed.... 60-70 years old, salt and pepper hair, IS wearing a device... something in his hand... behind (name of business).... requesting EOD" For several hours later, officers were reporting from the surrounding area, but I did not hear the final disposition, and am curious myself.
cedargrove (5 points)
reply refresh
10:11AM
They just stopped talking about him. I had someone who said they had a friend that worked at CBSnews who said they were told to stop talking about the old guy. I don't know, but they did shut the hell up about him pretty quick.
lumeno (2 points)
reply load replies (1)
12:37PM

ptasolo

(2 posts)
9. I emailed the Watertown Chief of Police to find out.
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 12:11 PM
Apr 2013

We too were monitoring the scanners that day and also found it odd that the scanner traffic on the old man just dropped off the plate. I hope Chief Deveau replies to my inquiry. Otherwise, we might have to contact one of the investigative reporters at a local TV station or write an Editorial for the Boston Globe or something.

ptasolo

(2 posts)
10. Here's what Chief Deveau replied about the man:
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 01:56 PM
Apr 2013

Did you want to walk into a bombing site and see if it was iPod?

On Apr 22, 2013, at 1:03 PM, "Paula Archer" <paulaarcher@crd.com> wrote:
4 EOD robots were called in to remove an iPod from a 60 year old man????

From: Deveau, Edward [mailto:edeveau@police.watertown-ma.gov]
Sent: Monday, April 22, 2013 12:57 PM
To: Paula Archer
Subject: Re: What happened to that elderly man EOD robots were working on Friday on Arsenal Street?

It was an iPod.

On Apr 22, 2013, at 11:46 AM, "Paula Archer" <paulaarcher@crd.com> wrote:
Hello Chief Deveau:

I know you have a lot more important matters to deal with in the aftermath of this weekend’s surreal events with the two Marathon bombers.

But, when you get a moment, I am interested to know what happened to that elderly man the four EOD robots were working on Friday on Arsenal Street?

Our family was listening to the police scanner reports that reported he was about 6 ‘ tall, about 60 years old, had "salt and pepper hair", he was handcuffed on the ground and he was "worked on" by four robots, as he was holding a possible explosive device. He has yelling and arching his back and shaking his head “no”.

The last we heard on the scanner was that the 4 EOD robots were trying to take the vest off of him.

We can’t seem to find any info in the media about this incident at all.

We live less than a mile from that location and have several friends in Watertown. Our son is a US Marine and he was explaining to us what the EOD team was doing and would be doing to difuse the situation but then the scanner stopped reporting on him.

Please put our minds at ease about this event as this was very disturbing to hear with all the other scary scanner traffic that transpired that day. Not knowing what happened to him makes us worry about other potential suicide bombers lurking so close to our home.

Sincerely,

Paula Archer
Belmont, MA

renate

(13,776 posts)
4. yeah, and who was the naked guy
Sun Apr 21, 2013, 05:16 AM
Apr 2013

The guy who was made to strip naked and get into a police car? I saw a replay of it a few times late Thursday night but it obviously wasn't the older brother because this guy was ambulatory and not bloody at all. No mention of him ever since, as far as I've seen.

??

sheabutter170

(3 posts)
5. he was let go
Sun Apr 21, 2013, 06:14 AM
Apr 2013

That was after the big shoot-out, and they were afraid he might have explosives strapped to him, so they made him strip. He was later released/cleared.

Cal Carpenter

(4,959 posts)
8. I never heard about him anywhere other than here, from the scanner
Sun Apr 21, 2013, 06:51 AM
Apr 2013

and I'm thinking it was a false alarm. The cops saw something, assumed the worst, mentioned it on scanner and then they realized it was not a threat.

Maybe he was on oxygen, as someone here joked at the time. Maybe it was a cell phone and an ugly vest he was wearing. I dunno.

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