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Man Arrested After Downtown Bomb Scare

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A man who abandoned a car at the construction site of the Gateway Center T station in downtown Pittsburgh Friday afternoon is in custody.

Nowell Howie, 34, is facing charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Howie drove his car into the new T station construction site in the Golden Triangle and walked away.

Port Authority Police said he got out of his car, knelt down, kissed the ground and told a witness no one should go near his car.

His hands were stretched toward the sky and he said God told him to do this in the name of the Lord.

Before he was taken into custody near Market Square about 45 minutes after the abandoned his car, he started giving away $20 bills, telling people not to spend the money, but to give it to those [people] they love.

A bomb squad was quickly called in to check out the vehicle, but no explosives were found. All pedestrian and vehicle traffic was shut down and secured in the area as the incident unfolded.

One Howie's neighbors on Harker Street in the West End said he was shocked by his behavior.

Brian Walzer described Howie as quiet, and friendly.

"I guess you don't really know people as good as you think you do," he said.

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