The piece of hardware, which authorities described as potentially explosive, turned out to be a timing belt tensioner commonly found on Audis. In response to the tensioner's discovery, police evacuated areas of the apartment complex where it was found, citing an "abundance of caution" in a press release.
The officers on scene requested the Hazardous Devices Unit inspect the mechanism which, to be fair, does have a pull-pin similar to something you might see on a hand grenade. Pulling said pin doesn't set off an explosive charge, though; it puts pressure on the vehicle's timing belt.
I've seen and installed dozens of these on various cars but to be fair I handed the computer to my wife (possibly biased) to look at the photo and she said "It looks familiar." Does it look dangerous? "No, not at all."
ReplyDeleteMy question (not answered in the police press release) is, who called 911 about this, and I have to wonder how it got into their apartment subsequently causing the evacuation. Wouldn't you think a roommate doing car repairs would come to mind before dialing 911? Perhaps a curious youngster who found it in the trash behind a repair shop and brought it home because it looked cool and well made?
I'm at a comfortable distance but it seems like another case of diminishing common sense in the American public. That probably makes me sound like the grumpy old man that I fear I am becoming.
Well said, Joe! It's not hooked up to anything.
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