Police video shows Linden officers' encounter with bomb suspect Ahmad Rahimi

Jim Dolan Image
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Body cam footage shows police approaching bomb suspect
Body cam footage shows police approaching bomb suspect Ahmad Rahimi.

LINDEN, New Jersey (WABC) -- Police body camera video obtained by ABC News shows the initial encounter between officers in Linden, New Jersey, and Ahmad Rahimi, the man charged with planting bombs on the Jersey shore and in Manhattan in September.

The video shows officers exiting their patrol car and coming upon Rahimi, who is seen briefly in the vestibule of a neighborhood bar.

An officer is overheard asking his name, and it seems Rahimi gives his real first name but a fake last name.

Jim Dolan has the story.

"Who would expect the most wanted man, sleeping like a bum, in front of your bar?" bar owner Harry Bains said.

Eyewitness News showed the video to Bains, who owns Merdies and the deli across the street. He called police that morning when he came upon Rahimi sleeping in his vestibule.

Rahimi is the only suspect in the Chelsea and New Jersey bombings on September 17th. He was on the run when the patrol car pulled up.

"He was like slouching, and then he straightened up a little bit," Bains said. "And then I saw his hands going over to his left."

You can see that on the tape. Bains says Rahimi was reaching for his gun, but that's where the tape ends.

"How soon after that do you think the shots were fired," Eyewitness News Reporter Jim Dolan asked.

"Right away," Bains said. "Right away."

Rahimi was recently released and is now being held in state prison in Trenton, while he awaits appearances in federal courts in New York and New Jersey. He is charged with five counts of attempted murder of a police officer for the shootout during his capture.

Rahimi has pleaded not guilty to charges he tried to kill police officers before they captured him.