NEW YORK CITY — These are the two men who may have foiled the second Chelsea bombing Saturday by swiping the suitcase the explosive device was in, the FBI said Wednesday.
The duo spotted a rolling bag on West 27th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues about 8:30 p.m., opened it, removed Ahmad Khan Rahami's pressure cooker bomb and walked away with the bag, officials said.
"I think they were more interested, quite frankly, in the bag and not what they were taking out," said NYPD Chief of Counterterrorism James Waters.
As DNAinfo New York first reported, investigators believe that in removing the pressure cooker bomb, which was part of Rahami's New York and New Jersey bombing spree, the men may have disabled it by disconnecting the explosive from its igniter, a cellphone, which had come loose from the device, sources said.
The cellphone turned out to be associated with his family, which led investigators to Rahami.
Investigators don't believe the two men who handled the luggage are part of Rahami's plot, but still want to question them.
"We're very much interested in speaking to them, finding out a little bit more about who they are. They are witnesses. There are no criminal charges. They're not in any jeopardy of being arrested," Waters said.
The pressure cooker bomb was "a very shock sensitive device" and the duo was "very, very lucky," to walk away unscathed, Waters added.
Another bomb that Rahami planted on West 23rd Street detonated and wounded 31 people about 8:30 p.m., officials said.
Surveillance on West 23rd Street captured Rahami wheeling the luggage. He was also wearing a backpack, which investigators believe contained the other pressure cooker bomb.
In video recovered from West 27th Street, Rahami no longer has the backpack slung behind his shoulder, but he is still pulling the wheelie bag, which the duo found at about 8:30 p.m.
Then an hour later, a photographer spotted the bomb — which she initially mistook for an abandoned science experiment, she said. She later realized it was dangerous and called police.
Because the bomb never detonated, unlike the other that was planted and wounded 31 people, it still bore 12 of Rahami's fingerprints, effectively tying him to the terror plot, prosecutors said.
Rahami was arrested after a shootout with New Jersey police Monday morning and charged with using a weapon of mass destruction, bombing a public place and two other charges, officials said.
But as of Wednesday afternoon, the duo that may have spared Chelsea from a second blast hadn't been located.
"We don't even know if they're aware of this, if they're not plugged in to this matter," Waters said.
Others emphasized that they're not suspected in any crime.
"They don't need to worry about taking the bag," said NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill.
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact the FBI's Toll-Free Tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI, your local FBI office, or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate.
