Suspicious 'Middle Eastern men' just roofers
PROBE: But report of man securing maps of property around Whidbey naval base still under investigation.
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The Associated Press
COUPEVILLE -- The "suspicious" people some locals thought might be conducting surveillance at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station on Sept. 10 were working for a roofing contractor, Island County Sheriff Mike Hawley said Wednesday.
The Washington Times mentioned the sighting in a Wednesday story about an internal Navy message that the newspaper said detailed 11 instances around the country of suspicious people possibly spying on bases and, in one case, a munitions truck.
Hawley called a news conference Wednesday "to set the record straight." Citizens who reported the incidents enabled law enforcement to "develop the facts and take quick action -- that's what public safety is all about," he said.
One incident reported by The Times -- about a man described as Middle Eastern who bought maps of property near the base on Sept. 10 -- was still being investigated, Hawley said.
The man's inquiry "took on a more sinister appearance" after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the sheriff said in a news release. There may have been two men -- the descriptions don't quite jibe, Hawley said.
In any event, a man visited Oak Harbor's City Hall looking for records on property in unincorporated areas of the island -- where the base is located. He was referred to the county Assessor's Office here, where a man also described as Middle Eastern bought four small plot maps later that day. The areas covered by the maps are unknown.
Witnesses describe the man as calm but "out of place." One person mentioned "a distinct body odor, causing her to back away from the counter," the sheriff's news release said.
"While his actions were suspicious -- they were not illegal," the release said.
In a telephone interview, Hawley said federal authorities -- his office works with the FBI and naval intelligence -- were still looking into that report. His department gave the FBI a police sketch of the man.
"It's a big base. Obviously they can't post a guard at every 20 paces," Hawley told the news conference. He theorized that potential wrongdoers might be "looking for deserted areas that are heavily forested so you could snip through and do whatever you need to do, so that's a big concern for us."
But the case of the roofers seemed to involve a series of misunderstandings, aggravated by the nation's new fears about terrorism.
• The Times said three men checked into a motel near the base and then rented a car under another name.
Hawley said there were actually six men of Middle Eastern extraction from California, who had been employed by a roofing contractor to finish a job on the island. The motel clerk found their names confusing and recorded several last names as first names.
• The men were reported videotaping, carrying inappropriate fishing gear and being ordered out of a restricted area.
Hawley said the men used their down time to explore the island, sometimes videotaping -- "typical of tourists." The "restricted area" was apparently Cranberry Lake, which is a day-use area. When a state park ranger found the men there after dark, he asked them to leave and they did. They brought their own fishing gear, which did seem inappropriate to locals -- like that of "many visitors from out of state," Hawley noted.
Kim Martin, a spokeswoman for NAS Whidbey, declined comment on The Times report earlier Wednesday.
"We have received numerous tips, and we've done investigations on every tip we have received," Martin said. "People around here are very vigilant."
Whidbey is home to EA-6B Prowler radar-jamming planes, including a squadron operating from the USS Carl Vinson in the North Arabian Sea. It also is the base for EP-3 surveillance planes, including the one forced down last spring in China.
Hawley noted several other incidents.
• A woman from nearby Camano Island reported a Sept. 13 encounter with a "suspicious" Middle Eastern man who was taking pictures of the base with an "expensive camera." The man gave her his card.
Hawley said the man was an Afghan national who had been convicted of felony child molestation in 1991 in Cowlitz County, and is now a registered sex offender in King County -- a fact unknown to federal authorities.
The FBI was informed and the man was subsequently detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. He remained in custody Wednesday, Hawley said.
• The county also has advised federal authorities of an electronic inquiry to its Web site from Islamabad, Pakistan. The e-mailer sought information about the county's solid-waste program -- information in the public domain, but of possible concern given recent events.
