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Homemade Booby Traps Lead to Arrest
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 6, 2008
Modified Feb 14, 2019
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By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 6, 2008
Modified Feb 14, 2019
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Apparently not in Bay Shore, Long Island resident Eric Stetz's lease: Being able to set homemade booby traps to make sure unwanted people stay out. Stetz was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment for a vicious-looking booby trap his super found.
Apparently Stetz's super had told him in advance that a Verizon agent needed to access his apartment on Thursday, but no one was around when they knocked. Newsday reports the "super went to open the door, felt resistance and found the rigged contraption"-- a big knife duct-taped to a crutch, which was installed with an elastic cord.
The super was not injured. Stetz also had another similar trap at his bedroom door. A police officer told the Post, "It was a real crude setup. Somehow, you push the door open, the strings get tighter, and [the knives] snap into you."
His mother told Newsday that squatters who lived in the building "made him paranoid and fearful he would be robbed. Freda Stetz said, "It was a stupid thing to do and he'll never do it again." Her son, who reportedly asked investigators "Did anyone get hurt with my knives? I wish they did," was released on bail.
Tagged
booby trap
homemade
long island
reckless endangerment
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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