Dynamite Sticks Found in Abandoned Car During Police Benefit at Yankee Stadium

Loose sticks of dynamite were found in a car parked in a lot near Yankee Stadium as the New York Yankees played the Baltimore Orioles in a game for the benefit of widows and orphans of police officers Friday night, police said.

Officers from the bomb squad removed 14 sticks of dynamite from an abandoned car at 162nd Street and River Avenue, a block from the stadium, said Sgt. John Venetucci, a department spokesman.

A parking lot attendant noticed the dynamite and called police at about 8:15 p.m. The car, a yellow Toyota, was missing windows and tires and had been in the lot about two years, but the dynamite was placed there recently, Venetucci said.

Police are trying to determine who owns the car.

Eleven sticks were found in a brown paper bag under the car and three were inside on a seat. The bomb squad took the explosives to a containment truck and removed them to a police firing range for disposal.

None of the sticks had blasting caps attached, so there was little danger of an explosion, Venetucci said. The ball game was not interrupted.

The Yankees were sponsoring “Silver Shield Night,” to benefit the police widows and orphans fund, police said.