JFK TERROR PLOT CAUGHT ON TAPE; Diner video obtained

Shortly before he was arrested in connection with an alleged plot to blow up a gas pipeline that supplies Kennedy Airport, Russell Defreitas was captured on surveillance video entering an East New York diner.

The video, from the Lindenwood Diner, shows Defreitas and the informant who helped develop the case first in the eatery's vestibule, then at a table, where they share a meal and a conversation before exiting.

Moments later, a stream of cops and FBI agents are seen driving by the diner and following the men before arresting Defreitas, 63.

The images come from the more than a dozen cameras the diner says it has set up inside and outside the eatery.

After media organizations spent Monday morning attempting to get video images from the diner, a manager at the eatery who would identify himself only as Frank said that the diner has been subpoenaed by law enforcement officials for the video.

A call to the FBI was not immediately returned, and it was not clear why federal authorities did not seize the video after the arrest. The New York Police Department, however, yesterday asked that media outlets either blur or leave out the image of the man who was with Defreitas.

According to The Associated Press, the man with Defreitas is the confidential informant who helped authorities build their case against the alleged Kennedy Airport terror plotters.

Diner owner Tom Urena said no workers there, himself included, know anything about Defreitas or the man who in the video was eating with him.

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