T-Shirt Vendor and Veteran Alerted Police to Car Bomb

The vendor, who was swarmed by television cameras, wore a name tag around his neck that identified him as Lance Orton. A law enforcement official confirmed that his first name was Lance.

The vendor had seen smoke billowing from the rear of the S.U.V., which was parked awkwardly near the curb and was running, shortly before 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. Within moments, the vendor alerted a mounted police officer; the officer smelled gunpowder near the car and an evacuation of Times Square was ordered.

Around 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, the vendor and several others he worked with collected the T-shirts and tables they had abandoned on 45th Street and Broadway when Times Square was first evacuated. After collecting his belongings, the vendor walked down 45th Street in search of a taxicab to take him home. Read more at NYT