Pittsburgh police on Thursday temporarily confiscated some PVC pipes from a Pittsburgh company that was using them for product testing, fearing the pipes were tools for G-20 protesters.
It was the second time RedZone Robotics Inc., based in the city's Lawrenceville neighborhood, has seen authorities confiscate their pipes. The company makes water pipe inspection robots, and uses the PVC to test its robots, said Vice President of Sales and Marketing Ken Wolf.
But PVC pipes, according to Pittsburgh police, can also be used by protesters who chain themselves together using the pipes, to thwart police efforts to make arrests. The apparatus is known as a "sleeping dragon," according to a statement released by Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Diane Richard.
After the first such confiscation a few weeks ago, Wolf said, the firm spray painted its name on the pipes, but to no avail.
"We support whatever police believe is necessary to keep the public safe during the G-20," Wolf said, who added that the company was more amused by the incident than anything else. "But these pipes have nothing to do with the G-20 or protests."
Wolf said the company is pondering storing the 60-foot, multi-segmented pipes in another location besides the rear of its building on 43rd Street.
RedZone Robotics: PVC piping for business, not G-20 protests |