Police: Tsarnaev's Friends Could Have Saved MIT Officer's Life
BOSTON (CBS) - If the US Attorney's charges are true, three friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had a few crucial hours to help police track down the bombing suspects, and police officers say those hours could have saved a fellow officer's life.
Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, natives of Kazakhstan, are charged with conspiring to destroy emptied fireworks and other evidence linking their friend to the deadly April 15 blasts. Robel Phillipos is charged with lying to investigators about going to Tsarnaev's dorm room to get the items.
Lt. Mike Lawn of the Watertown Police Department responded to the scene of the shootout with the suspects in his town, and says hearing new information about these friends actions is disturbing.
Lt. Lawn says, "They had this information, they didn't share it with authorities, and what ended up happening that night could have been avoided if they had just reached out and made the phone call."
Here's a look at the timeline, according to the FBI complaint and affidavit.
On Thursday, April 18th, the FBI released photos of the suspected bombers at 5pm.
A short time later, prosecutors say, friends of Dzhokar Tsarnaev removed a backpack with fireworks from his dorm room after seeing the photos.
At 8:43pm, the friends received texts from Tsarnaev.
At 10:30pm, MIT Police Officer Sean Collier was shot and killed.
Two hours later, on Friday April 19th, around 12:41 am, Transit Police Officer Richard Donohue was wounded in gun battle with the Tsarnaevs.
Lt. Lawn says, "They had his cell phone number, that number probably could have been pinged and located in minutes. These individuals could have been the heroes of this if they had just reached out and gave that information to authorities and they chose not to, and I am glad to see they are in custody."
