Pipe-Bomb Suspect Treated Chase Like Joke
May 10 -- In the end, it all seemed like a big joke to the man wanted for terrorizing America's heartland in a five-state pipe-bombing spree, an investigator who helped catch the man told ABCNEWS.com.
"He didn't seem to understand the severity of the situation," said Pershing County Sheriff's Department Investigator Ted Bolzley.
"He acted almost as if the law enforcement officers were his old chums, and we had thrown a big surprise party for him."
Friends Saw Signs of Problems
Investigators finally caught up to Luke Helder, a 21-year-old college student accused in the bombing wave that injured six people, on a remote part of Interstate 80 in northern Nevada Tuesday afternoon.
FBI sources said Helder had been on the phone to his father Cameron. According to court papers, Cameron Helder already had told authorities about a letter his son sent him that seemed to take credit for the bomb attacks.
Cameron Helder tipped off the FBI to the call, and that apparently enabled authorities to track him down.
The Chase Is On
"At around three we got a teletype from the FBI, alerting all law enforcement in northern Nevada," said Bolzley, who explained that federal investigators were able to trace Helder's signal to a cell-phone relay tower at Battle Mountain, Nev., an old mining and railroad town.
At 3:51 p.m. Bolzley and the rest of the department got a call from dispatch that someone phoning 911 had just seen the dark gray Honda that Helder was diving on I-80.
Soon after that, the chase was on. And just as quickly, it became anything but a normal high-speed chase.
The suspect hit speeds pushing 100 mph, but he didn't seem to mind, said Bolzley, a narcotics investigator who at times was driving alongside Helder in an unmarked pickup.
Smiling, Swerving, a Gun to His Head
"As I was driving along side him, he was talking on a cell phone, with the Rand McNally map spread out in his lap, smiling," said Bolzley, referring to a map that sources said Helder later used to point out some of the locations he allegedly planted bombs.
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