FBI arrests Caltech grad student in SUV arson, vandalism spree

AP ^ | 3/9/04 | GREG RISLING

[Jean S]

A California Institute of Technology graduate student was arrested Tuesday in connection with last summer's vandalism of 125 sport utility vehicles and fires set at a San Gabriel Valley auto dealership in apparent support of the Earth Liberation Front, the FBI said.

[TheBigB]

Give the little SOB 50 years.

[goldstategop]

Those radical enviro terrorists are being caught. I hope this is one guy who does plenty of hard time.

[dead]

allegedly used an alias when he contacted the Los Angeles Times by e-mail

A real dumbass for a physics grad student.

Enjoy federal prison, hippy.

[LibWhacker]

Wow, the dumbest physics grad student at Caltech.

[bert]

50 years?

They hang horse theives don't they?

[martinidon]

hummm, pretty stupid to send email's implicating yourself. Hard to believe this is a college grad.....

[atomicpossum]

Wait til the civil suits start.

[Grut]

Now, if he were only from Georgia Tech, he'd be a 'rambling wrecker'.

[goldstategop]

He thought he'd never be caught.

[HenryLeeII]

Give the little SOB 50 years.

Either burn him alive or bury him to his neck in the woods and smear honey on his head, his choice. Oh, and raise his book fees at Cal Tech!

[leprechaun9]

He should be charged as a DOMESTIC TERRORIST!

[DonaldDuke]

Good. Now, let's hope the little elf tries an escape.

[jocon307]

"He should be charged as a DOMESTIC TERRORIST!"

You are correct, and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. No parole for this little snot nosed arsonist.

Just like in the 60s, it's time to lock up some white, middle class losers and throw away the keys. That should please everyone, except them, of course. And their poor parents, boo hoo.

What odds do you give me that this loser hails from Marin County?

[Conspiracy Guy]

Probably self-defense will be his lawyer's assertion. Evil SUVs attacking a peace loving young man.

CG

[bondjamesbond]

Wow, the dumbest physics grad student at Caltech.

Book smart. World dumb.

[Constitution Day]

Unabomber II in training.

[UncleDick]

I can't blame the guy for going a little crazy. Caltech is hell.

[dead]

NEWFLASH!

This CalTech grad student was a University of Chicago student two and a half years ago.

It seems Billy has a long history of trouble, but Daddy spent $80,000 to help him clean up his act!

His story, hilariously enough, is featured on NoSpank.com!

DESPERATE MEASURES - Parents of Troubled Youths Are Seeking Help at Any Cost
By Sara Rimer
The New York Times, September 10, 2001

< snip >

...Parents say that it is painful to turn their children over to strangers, but that they feel they have no choice. "All of a sudden I was rationing out his care to different service agencies," said William Cottrell, 52, an anesthesiologist in North Carolina, who hired escorts to fly his 14-year-old son, Billy, from a wilderness therapy program in Idaho, where he had run away, to the Provo Canyon School, a hospital-like school in Utah.

Dr. Cottrell was relying on the guidance of Ms. Price, the consultant. "It just boiled down to the point where I didn't have too many options," he said. "It was a brave new world. I was trusting Ann Carol Price."

Dr. Cottrell and his wife divorced when their son was 9. The boy moved to Florida to live with his mother and soon began to have behavioral problems. Though he was an exceptionally bright boy, he was eventually kicked out of two public high schools and a military academy, where he burned a dollar bill in front of a captain.

"I was getting mentally exhausted," said Dr. Cottrell, who said his son's problems probably stemmed in part from the family's instability. And while he was an involved father, he said, he was also distracted by his medical practice.

"I taught all my kids how to read when they were 4," he said. "At the same time I was working long, hard hours. I was probably alienated from them."

Billy Cottrell, now 21 and in his final year at the University of Chicago, blames the public schools, where he says he was bored in the classroom and beaten up by his peers, for his problems. Acting out was his way of fighting back. "I found that getting in trouble, and rebelling, all of a sudden instead of getting beat up, you're admired by people," he said. "You're also fighting the school system, which you despise."

As proud as he is of his son's success in college, Dr. Cottrell recalls the embarrassment he felt about sending him to the Utah school. "I heard other parents saying, my kid's going to this private school, or that big- shot school, and my kid was going to some place no one ever heard of in Provo."

During the program, however, his son's behavior began to improve. He is to graduate from the University of Chicago next year with degrees in math and physics. He hopes to attend graduate school in physics.

Dr. Cottrell said he had no doubt the program was worth it. "Spending $80,000 was a no-brainer," he said.

[Jean S]

Great find, thanks dead. This kid has some serious problems.

....who hired escorts to fly his 14-year-old son, Billy, from a wilderness therapy program in Idaho, where he had run away, to the Provo Canyon School, a hospital-like school in Utah.

[BJungNan]

Give the little SOB 50 years.

Bump to that. Do not give this guy a break. Who is the DA that will procescute. He needs to get a call for all of us to tell him to go for maximum sentence!

This is the same kind of garbage that took place in China during the cultural revolution, people's property taken out of their homes and burned in the streets, women forced to get hair cuts before getting on a train because their hair style was too fancy.

Make no mistake about it, these people are dangerous. If they could make an SUV owner stand out in the street in the hot sun wearing a heavy coat and with a bill board hanging from their neck, they would do it.

[umgud]

You'all think maybe he was exposed to this ELF crap whilst recieving a liberal education? BTW, I too say; throw the book at him.

[adam_az]

here he is

http://www.physicschick.com/pics/ditch_day/02_single_physicist.html

[Doomonyou]

Give the little SOB 50 years.

Nah. He should be drawn and quartered by a Hummer, an Expedition, a Suburban, and a Navigator!

[Sloth]

I knew he'd have to be a pure-science type, not an engineer. :)

[Tijeras_Slim]

Spending $80,000 was a no-brainer

In a manner of speaking, yes.

[adam_az]

In the sunglasses & white t-shirt

[dead]

What is it with you people?

[Tijeras_Slim]

elf ping

[UncleDick]

Here's another:



For a place that attracts pasty, male nerd types, there is entirely too much nudity going on at Caltech.

[dead]

He might want to wipe that off before he starts his sleepovers in federal prison.

[Lurker]

Are you sure that's him?

L

[international american]

Coulda graduated and started at 90-100,000 a year. Cal is the #1 tech school in the USA...better than MIT!

No, he has to destroy honest businesses...HANG the SOB!!

[ApplegateRanch]

if he were only from Georgia Tech, he'd be a 'rambling wrecker'.

If he'd hit German SUV's, he could claim he was only tring to Sink The Bismark.

(For those who don't know, Johnny Horton 'borrowed' the tune from Georgia for 'his' lyrics.)

[dead]

LOL! I'll say.

I like how his dad hired escorts to haul him off to wilderness reform school.

Somehow, I think a daddy-escort might have sent a better message to the wayward tyke.

But at least he never spanked him!

[adam_az]

Sure, check the page I linked to.

All caltech physics grad students.

[bondjamesbond]

Looks like the young man loves attention. Well, he's getting it from the FBI now.

If he had just kept his mouth shut, he would never have been caught.

[ApplegateRanch]

Either burn him alive or bury him to his neck in the woods and smear honey on his head

My wife (bless the "genterler sex"!) suggests using four SUVs to draw & qaurter him.

Seems like poetic justice to me...especially if you re-aimed the tail pipes at him.

[Gorzaloon]

Heh.

Ain't he got a purty mouf.

[maggief]

PETA Bankrolling Terrorist Group ELF
By PRN Newswire

WASHINGTON, -- As the frightening images of a massive August 2nd arson are seared into the minds of San Diego residents, many are left to wonder just who the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) is and who pays its bills. As law enforcement begins to look for answers, members of the public should know that the shadowy ELF enjoys financial backing from at least one tax-exempt, above-ground group -- the activists at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). A recent federal income tax return filed by PETA shows a $1,500 cash payment to the "North American Earth Liberation Front." And Rodney Coronado, a convicted arsonist who previously received $70,400 from PETA, was in San Diego on the day of the University City arson.


http://www.sierratimes.com/03/08/07/ar_elf_peta.htm

[Conspiracy Guy]

It was self-defense.

He was walking along with a can of gas and suddenly, out of the darkness rolled the SUV. The SUV demanded his gas or his life. He handed the can to the SUV and while it was guzzling it down he tossed his zippo on it and ran. He had always heard fight your assailant, don't give in. He was fighting for his life, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Can we just sit back and watch these SUVs steal our precious gas and threaten our lives? Can a man no longer protect himself? Vote to acquit this fine young man. It's for the children.

He is as good as free already.

CG

[battousai]

Do criminals still make license plates? Wouldn't that be the ultimate irony :)

I can't stop laughing at these criminal masterminds who think they are anonymous behind e-mails :/

[HenryLeeII]

My wife (bless the "genterler sex"!) suggests using four SUVs to draw & qaurter him.

Sounds good to me! Let's roll!

I like your tagline; it reminds me of something my grandfather used to say, about there being many more horses' asses than horses in this world!

[JimRed]

Give the little SOB 50 years.

If convicted, he faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for each act.

72 vehicles and a warehouse. 73 x 20 = 1,460

Cut him a deal for 600 years!

[Clintons Are White Trash]

He might want to wipe that off before he starts his sleepovers in federal prison.

ROFL!!! Spewing diet coke at the screen...

[international american]

I cannot impeach your logic, or the value of a 500 an hour shyster lawyer:)

[Conspiracy Guy]

Oh I didn't read the post, he was attacked by a gang of SUVs. No Jury will convict a lone student winning a SUV gang fight.

He was probably just wearing the wrong colors for the hood he was in.

CG

[tubebender]

They got one and I'll bet it leads to others...

[Still Thinking]

Hard school to get into. I'm surprised ELF types have the horsepower.