lennart
10-05-04, 19:53
Israeli men arrested after high-speed chase in Unicoi County
ERWIN, Tenn. - No bond was set Monday for two Israeli men who were arrested after leading the Unicoi County sheriff on a high-speed chase in a rented moving truck.
Shmuel Dahan and Almaliach Naor were in court Monday, but a bond hearing was not held because they are waiting for help from the Israeli consulate, according to Unicoi's deputy court clerk, Sheri Lunceford.
Dahan, 23, is charged with reckless driving, littering, false identification and evading arrest. Naor, whose age was not given, faces charges of false identification and evading arrest.
The truck, rented from a Ryder office in Mars Hills, N.C., was being held in the county garage pending an FBI investigation, officials said.
Police said they are also being investigated by the FBI. Phone calls left with the FBI's Knoxville office Monday were not immediately returned.
The incident began late Saturday afternoon when Unicoi County Sheriff Kent Harris noticed a rental truck traveling at a high speed along former U.S. Highway 23, a lightly traveled highway near the North Carolina state line.
"I was really concerned because the driver would not stop after I flashed my headlights for nearly three miles," Harris said. "He was weaving back and forth, and I was wondering what a large (rental truck) was doing on the two-lane highway late Saturday afternoon instead of the faster I-26 Interstate."
William B. Lawson, one of the lawyers appointed to represent the Israeli men, said they rented a truck and planned to haul furniture, but accidentally got off the interstate and got lost.
The sheriff said he saw the men throw something from the truck while they were being pursued. Officers scouring the area later found a vial containing an unknown substance along the roadway, he said.
Lawson said the vial contained a "fuel source," but he added that it hasn't been identified and authorities were treating it with caution.
Once the men were apprehended, officers also found a "Learn to Fly" brochure in the truck, leading Harris and others to express concern about security at the Nuclear Fuel Services plant in Erwin.
"I got a sick feeling when I saw it," Harris said.
Dahan also gave authorities a fake Florida driver's license issued in Plantation, Fla., he said, while Naor produced a fake identification card.
Lawson said the Naor is a young man who doesn't speak English and used the fake ID to get into a Miami nightclub. He said they were both in the country legally.
"We're trying to get these gentlemen released," Lawson said. "They were just traveling through, headed up north."
Harris subsequently contacted the FBI, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other local authorities to look into the situation.
"We're not overreacting," Harris said. "We have a responsibility to protect the citizens of Unicoi County and that's what I'm going to do at any cost. I'd rather overreact, if that's what you call it, than be sorry later."
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArti cle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031775368961&path=!localnews&s=1037645509099
Merkwaardig verhaal! Vlak voor 11 September was er een uitgebreid Israelisch spionnennetwerk actief in de VS en die gebruikten ondermeer een verhuisbedrijf als denkmantel.
ERWIN, Tenn. - No bond was set Monday for two Israeli men who were arrested after leading the Unicoi County sheriff on a high-speed chase in a rented moving truck.
Shmuel Dahan and Almaliach Naor were in court Monday, but a bond hearing was not held because they are waiting for help from the Israeli consulate, according to Unicoi's deputy court clerk, Sheri Lunceford.
Dahan, 23, is charged with reckless driving, littering, false identification and evading arrest. Naor, whose age was not given, faces charges of false identification and evading arrest.
The truck, rented from a Ryder office in Mars Hills, N.C., was being held in the county garage pending an FBI investigation, officials said.
Police said they are also being investigated by the FBI. Phone calls left with the FBI's Knoxville office Monday were not immediately returned.
The incident began late Saturday afternoon when Unicoi County Sheriff Kent Harris noticed a rental truck traveling at a high speed along former U.S. Highway 23, a lightly traveled highway near the North Carolina state line.
"I was really concerned because the driver would not stop after I flashed my headlights for nearly three miles," Harris said. "He was weaving back and forth, and I was wondering what a large (rental truck) was doing on the two-lane highway late Saturday afternoon instead of the faster I-26 Interstate."
William B. Lawson, one of the lawyers appointed to represent the Israeli men, said they rented a truck and planned to haul furniture, but accidentally got off the interstate and got lost.
The sheriff said he saw the men throw something from the truck while they were being pursued. Officers scouring the area later found a vial containing an unknown substance along the roadway, he said.
Lawson said the vial contained a "fuel source," but he added that it hasn't been identified and authorities were treating it with caution.
Once the men were apprehended, officers also found a "Learn to Fly" brochure in the truck, leading Harris and others to express concern about security at the Nuclear Fuel Services plant in Erwin.
"I got a sick feeling when I saw it," Harris said.
Dahan also gave authorities a fake Florida driver's license issued in Plantation, Fla., he said, while Naor produced a fake identification card.
Lawson said the Naor is a young man who doesn't speak English and used the fake ID to get into a Miami nightclub. He said they were both in the country legally.
"We're trying to get these gentlemen released," Lawson said. "They were just traveling through, headed up north."
Harris subsequently contacted the FBI, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other local authorities to look into the situation.
"We're not overreacting," Harris said. "We have a responsibility to protect the citizens of Unicoi County and that's what I'm going to do at any cost. I'd rather overreact, if that's what you call it, than be sorry later."
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArti cle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031775368961&path=!localnews&s=1037645509099
Merkwaardig verhaal! Vlak voor 11 September was er een uitgebreid Israelisch spionnennetwerk actief in de VS en die gebruikten ondermeer een verhuisbedrijf als denkmantel.