Man Swallows USB Drive to Destroy Evidence

So how intact was it?

Hmm... wtf? Why didn't he just break the drive in half (unless it's a metal encased Flash drive)? Just saying....

Must've not been pleasant to 'remove the item'.

Mmm strawberry metallic

I thought it was illegal to perform an operation without his consent. so how could they have scheduled an operation before he agreed to it? i guess it doesn't matter anyway because if that drive refused to come out, he would be begging for the anyway operation soon enough.

Mmm strawberry metallic

Also, wouldn't the hydrochloric acid in the stomach probably destroy the circuit board on the flash drive if its been in there for 4 days?

all this would do would be to prolong the 'USSS' a little while considering you dont need the pcb or anything else but the flash modules, which are about [ ] actual size, give or take a few mm's. and even if you did break the actual flash module, they could still grab part of the data from the intact pieces.

depending on what information was on that flash drive, he might have been smart to try and destroy it. obstruction of justice might get him in trouble, but the information on that flash drive could have been a lot worse. we may never know

I once had a vet bring me a flash drive she recovered from a Mastiff. I cleaned it with rubbing alcohol, and it ended up working fine. How ever it was in the dog maybe 12 hours max.

musta had some pretty bad porn on there ...

I could be wrong but the only secretion from gastric acid strong enough to dissolve a USB drive is hydrochloric acid and there is not enough of it or time to fully dissolve it. Depending on where the stick got lodged in the GI tract, it may still be operational. Would suck for him to still have the evidence against him as well as the charge for obstruction.

lol,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmnUx_wNqRE

You have no rights in jail. Them's the breaks.

Naw, while there is HCl present in stomach acid, it's so dilute (

he could got a virus

Gah, the comment function ENTIRELY failed there... It clipped 99% of the comment. Apparently, even though, last I knew, HTML wasn't allowed in comments, it still tries to semi-parse them, and use of the "less than" and "greater than" signs will break comments.

Sadly, I thought it posted fine, so I will have to re-write a simpler version...

While there is HCl (hydrochloric acid) in stomach acid, it's so dilute (less than 1%) that the pH level is 1-2.0, only a bit less than the levels found with common food/cooking acids, like citric acid, phosphoric acid, (carbonated soft drinks) and acetic acid. (vinegar) And far weaker than battery acid, (which has a negative pH level)

The plastic in PCBs are usually an aromatic polymer, a kind of material that's known for incredible durability and resistance to heat and chemicals. (DuPont's 'Kevlar' is an example of one) Resistance to acid is likewise part of their features. After all, vinegar, lemon juice, and sodas typically come in plastic bottles, and even in lead-acid car batteries, you'll have many plastic components exposed to the acid therein, and they last just fine.

Overall, the stuff is far more resistant than, say, steel. I'd imagine that the drive is likely just fine, provided it is cleaned/dried first to make sure it doesn't short itself when plugged in. If there were some steel parts, they might be corroded, though, (like the USB plug itself) but the contacts are likely copper or gold, and hence far more resistant.

i think we can all say .... it was safely removed. lol

What an idiot! I don't know what he was expecting to accomplish. It's very annoying that these people use up tax dollars.

been easier just to have the drive encrypted and tactically forget your password.....

Hopefully it wasn't one of those "Tough" drives and maybe the stomach acids could destroy the evidence he was trying to protect. I am assuming that was his only bet lol.

Reminds me of the incredible hulk movie.

Maybe if the body didnt pull it out its because now the brain its using the usb storage

I'm sorry, but these people are just silly. There's no way stomach acid could do any real damage in that amount of time.

If I was going to be storing illegal information on a flash drive, I'd attach a battery and a push button to make a "kill-switch" and short the thing out.

Suspicious? Yeah, but if destroying the evidence is worth eating it, it's probably better than the alternative.

see how all the cops are white......

Just kidding....

"TSG cites a source that says Necula eventually agreed to allow doctors at New York Downtown Hospital to remove the item and he is being held without bail at Queens jail."

He eventually agreed.

Yes yes but can it hold crysis on its memory?

Would you like vinegar with your chips?

How about trying Truecrypt?

Dumb criminals do dumb stuff.

Kingston GutDrive™. Can resist the harshest conditions.

I wonder if a search warrant could cover that?

actually, the Hydrochloric acid in your stomach is NOT dilute so unless the cover was acid resistant, that flash drive is history. The bad thing for the defendant is that there may have been heavy metals like mercury in there and charged mercury going through your system is bad.