MURRAY WEISS and MARIA ALVAREZ
Courtesy New York Post
An anonymous Pakistani e-mailer asked a New Jersey ambulance corps how to buy an ambulance and run a rescue squad just a month before two Middle Eastern-looking men tried to buy a replica ambulance from a movie-prop shop, The Post has learned.
Homeland Defense E-Alerts
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Law-enforcement sources said the May 17 e-mail sent up red flags for squad members in a Bergen County town because of the details it requested and because it came from Karachi, Pakistan, a hot bed of Islamic fundamentalism.
The FBI alerted the CIA and the State Department, who are now working with Pakistani authorities to track down the source of the e-mail.
The message is the second ambulance-related incident the FBI is investigating. The bureau is also looking into a June 11 visit to a Jersey prop company in which two men tried to buy a replica rescue vehicle.
The shopping trip has put police on alert for a possible attack using an ambulance, police cruiser or firetruck packed with explosives in a Trojan-horse-type bomb attack in a sensitive area.
Nevertheless, a law-enforcement source says there is no evidence terrorists sent the e-mail, as there is no evidence that the two Middle Eastern-looking men who tried to buy a movie-prop ambulance are terrorists.
"This could be people who just want an ambulance for their own corps," the source said. "They might want it so they could get through traffic faster."
Yesterday, the man who sparked the alert said he is happy he spoke out.
"Nothing is too trivial to report to your police department," said Joe Sargo, owner of Movie Time Cars, in Lyndhurst, N.J
Sargo - who has provided props to TV hits like "The Sopranos," "Law & Order" and "Third Watch" - first became suspicious when he saw the two men lurking near his ambulances.
"I approached them and asked them if I can help. They proceeded to tell me that they wanted to buy ambulances. I told them no.''
The two men, whom Sargo called "clean cut," quickly offered him cash.
Sargo said he refused right away and reiterated his no-sell policy. The men then got into their car and drove away. Sargo said he jotted down the license number and called police.
"It was a very brief encounter. It only lasted five minutes," Sargo said.
