A man who set fire to his car in a Wellington pedestrian mall also called in bomb threats to the Reserve Bank and stock exchange.
Christopher Palenski, 40, whose last known address was in Taupo, this morning pleaded guilty to charges of arson and threatening to kill.
Palenski had called police on November 22 last year and told them to listen carefully, that there were four devices at the addresses of the Reserve Bank and Stock Exchange that would go off at 12.
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Police experts were called in, including explosive sniffer dogs.
Palenski watched to see if the buildings were evacuated.
He also called both organisations directly to tell them of his threats.
He was later caught at Radio New Zealand's building on The Terrace.
Four days later, on election day, he drove his car into Cuba Mall and spray painted "What is fractional reserve banking? Google it," on the footpath.
He got a member of the public to hold a camera and said he was going to make his car disappear.
Palenski then lit material in the back of the car which exploded.
He told police when interviewed that he had not expected it to "explode like in the movies''.
He was blown backwards by the blast and then tried to prevent shopkeepers in the area putting out the fire.
Wellington District Court judge Bruce Davidson remanded him in custody until April for sentencing.
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