Did Marathon Suspects Carry Bombs Through Malden Center?

Were the alleged Marathon bombers in Malden Center the day before their attack?

Taxi Time driver and Malden resident Jim Duggan told reporters he is "confident" he gave the Tsarnaev brothers a ride from Malden Center to Cambridge that Sunday - along with two heavy backpacks they insisted on handling themselves. 

"On my mother's soul, those kids were in my cab," Duggan told Fox 25.

Aside from a physical resemblance, Duggan said the pair asked to be driven to Norfolk Street in Cambridge, where Tamerlan Tsarnaev reportedly lived.

The men also identified themselves as Chechen and angrily rebuffed his efforts to help with their "heavy" backpacks, he said.

In another curious detail, Duggan said the two men abruptly ended the cab ride when he started to ask about their plans for the Boston Marathon. 

In a quick exchange Thursday morning, Duggan told Malden Patch said he did not see the men emerge from the T station itself. 

"They were about 20 feet away (from the train) when I first saw them, and there was not a recent train," he wrote. 

Malden Police Chief Kevin Molis confirmed that the story was known to police and passed along to the Department of Homeland Security.

That agency reportedly continues to investigate. 

MORE INFO:

• Valley Patriot "Malden Taxi Driver Says he Drove Tsarnaev Brothers With Backpacks"
• Fox 25 "Cab driver says marathon bombers were protective of backpacks"