DHS hotline a hotbed of weak tips

0 Comments | USA TODAY, December, 2005 | by Kevin Johnson

WILLISTON, Vt. -- The tipster from Illinois first called the Department of Homeland Security's hotline here on Feb. 15, when he reported that while he was helping a "Russian lady" change a flat tire, he saw a pipe bomb in the trunk of her car.

The tip set off a public safety alert in central Illinois, where state police and Naperville authorities responded to a bulletin from the DHS. The dragnet finally ended Feb. 21, when officers found the woman, her car and a device in the trunk.

There was a twist: The device had been placed in the car by the innocent woman's ex-husband, who was identified as William Nakulski. He and his son were charged in what turned out to be a bizarre and unsuccessful plot to have Nakulski's ex-wife, an immigrant, jailed and deported.

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