Teen Arrested For Trying To Bomb Chicago Bar

An 18-year-old from the suburbs of Chicago was arrested for trying to blow up an unnamed bar in downtown Chicago Friday night with what he thought was a car bomb, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced yesterday.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Adel Daoud of Hillside, Ill., is alleged to have parked a Jeep Cherokee in front of the crowded bar, and then he tried to detonate what he thought was a car bomb as he walked away. The bomb was a fake given to him by undercover FBI agents, the U.S. Attorney's Office said, so nobody was in any danger at the time. Daoud was arrested as soon as he pressed the fake triggering device.

Court documents don't identify the bar in question, but it was apparently a popular downtown location that was also a concert venue and was close to a liquor store.

Daoud was quoted in the documents as saying, "It's a bar, it's a liquor store, it's a concert. All in one bundle." He said it would be full of all the "evilest people."

Daoud used Google Street View to survey the bar and visited in person to scout the area and take photographs.

Daoud's neighbors were shocked by the news of his arrest. Dorothy Leverson, a neighbor whose sons were friends with Daoud, described him as an intelligent and kind kid who always brought her pastries for Ramadan.

The FBI said the undercover agents had been exchanging messages with Daoud since May.