Interesting, I haven't read the novelisation. But this raises new questions. Why were the terrorists arrested? Because of weapon possessing? They might have had permissions. Because they are foreigners? That's not a crime. Because they crashed into a booth? Well, the brakes might have been broken. Why arrest people without prior questioning them OR at least calling an ambulance to check their medical state?

@User2513149 - It's not immediately clear from the book, but I'd guess that the gunfire, explosions and ramming of a photo kiosk would constitute crimes worthy of arrest. Note that they weren't injured, just trapped.

@user2513149: Per weapons, it is extremely unlikely that they permission for their firearms. In the US, a gun license is nearly impossible to get if you are not either a legal resident or attached to an embassy. Seeing as they are terrorists, I don't see the latter happening. Also, they are trespassing and discharging firearms inside a populated area. Both of those things tend to be offenses for which one can be arrested for.

Also, despite the Pacific Nuclear Power Facility's cover story of missing plutonium being attributed to clerical error, I'm sure the facility was working with authorities to uncover the source of the theft. These two guys are most certainly already being investigated or on a wanted list somewhere.

@JesseC.Slicer, but in that case wouldn't Doc be under suspicion for plutonium theft as well?

@user2513149 In some of the earlier versions of the script, we find that not only is Doc brilliant, but he is also devious. There is a deleted scene in 1955 where he slips the town square cop a bribe to not look too closely at his "weather experiment". I'm sure he's done a thorough job of keeping his association with the terrorists invisible one way or another. Or, ya know, just time travel fix all that later.

And @Valorum mentions this, but they fire a freaking RPG! I think the police would arrest first and ask questions later in that case!

Didn't the van have doors on both sides and the rear? How does the van falling over prevent all of them from getting out?

@jpmc26, maybe the second and the rear doors were blocked by the photo booth walls which had fallen down. They might have been too heavy and the terrorists could not lift them up without help from outside.

@user2513149 They could shoot out the windshield or windows in that case. =p I seriously doubt that a destroyed photo booth could coincidentally cover all possible exits. Even just covering all the doors (part being balanced on one side and the other sitting directly behind, when they crashed into it with the front) seems pretty unlikely.

Okay, I got a picture. It has pretty much stopped at this point, as you can see here. It may or may not tip over. The sides are pretty much surrounded by the destroyed booth, but the back doesn't seem blocked. It's a little hard to tell if the back opens from this view, but I think it does. Does the novel say explicitly one way or the other whether there's supposed to be a rear hatch?

@jpmc26 Don’t forget that the police sirens are already heard as they crash into the photo booth. It’s entirely possible that they were only temporarily trapped and would have been able to get out given a few minutes to recover and get their bearings, but the police arrived on the scene too quickly for them to make an escape. Even so, they had an RPG and god knows what other heavy weaponry in that Loaf, and they’re international terrorists—little reason not to simply shoot their way through the measley local police forces that show up with their puny little hand guns…

Note that the novelization is pretty dang far from canon.

@StuartP.Bentley - it was based on an earlier version of the script and in consultation with the film's screenwriters. That makes it at least slightly authoritative

@jpmc26, old VWs have a rear engine, the back window may open but possibly only from the outside. However the roof is clearly open so access to doors is irrelevant.