Posted on 01/09/2002 9:04:21 AM PST by blam
Former Nuclear Plant Worker Arrested for Threats
Photos By Kevin Krolicki
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. (Reuters) - A former nuclear plant worker with an arsenal of assault rifles and other weapons was arrested for allegedly threatening workers and supervisors at the San Onofre nuclear plant in Southern California, sheriff's department officials said on Wednesday.
Two deputies were overcome by fumes while searching a San Juan Capistrano storage shed the containing the bulk of the man's weapons cache when a yellow vapor cloud was released by a container they opened, police said.
The two officers were treated and released at a nearby hospital after complaining the still-unidentified, tear-gas like vapor had caused stinging eyes and blurry vision, authorities said.
The 43-year-old male plant worker, who was not named, was taken into custody on Tuesday, and deputies later found a cache of more than 200 weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition at his home in Laguna Niguel and the rented storage facility, Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Colin Murphy said.
``The employee was recently terminated. At the same time, he had made some threats to the company and to fellow employees at the power plant,'' Murphy said.
Orange County sheriff spokesman Jim Amormino told MSNBC the man made repeated threatening phone calls. The director at the plant in turn notified the sheriff's department.
``Apparently, he called several times to the plant. He made threats to employees and supervisors that he had a lot of guns and he would come back and shoot them,'' Amormino said.
Authorities said the man, who was being held in the county jail in Santa Ana, could be charged for making ``terrorist threats,'' but a spokeswoman for the sheriff's department said it was still unclear what charges would be brought.
Sheriff's deputies found 54 weapons at the man's home during a search on Tuesday. They raided the storage shed on Wednesday and found 150 weapons, including assault rifles, small arms and several ammunition cans, Murphy said. Some of the assault rifles were illegal to own in California.
YELLOW GAS
Three sheriff's deputies searching the storage unit at about 1 a.m. PDT (0900 GMT) were treated and released from a nearby hospital after inhaling an unidentified yellow gas that came out of an ammunition can opened in the search, he said.
``The deputies described the effect of the vapor as almost like a tear gas,'' Murphy said.
Tests were pending to determine what the vapor was after hazardous materials and police bomb squad experts were called in to join the search which concluded Wednesday morning, authorities said. The San Onofre plant, located near Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base about 55 miles south of Los Angeles, is jointly owned by Southern California Edison (news - web sites), Sempra Energy unit San Diego Gas and Electric and the cities of Riverside and Anaheim, California. Southern California Edison is a unit of Edison International .
The plant, which supplies 2,200 megawatts of electricity, has been operating under increased security since the Sept. 11 hijack attacks in New York and Washington. A megawatt is roughly enough electricity to supply power to 1,000 homes.
The San Onofre plant is one of two nuclear power stations in the state, along with the Diablo Canyon plant in central California. Taken together the plants supply more than 10 percent of the power used in the state on an average day.
A spokesman for San Onofre could not be immediately reached for comment.
Well, for once I can agree that this is actually a "weapons cache". It gets old hearing the media call two handguns, a rifle and a box of shells an "arsenal".
That line works every time. ;~))
Your brother is Homer Simpson!?!
No can do on the RumInt. He doesn't drink :o)
I think that they may nail him for some unregistered "assault rifles" though from the sound of it.
If there were threatening phone calls made--several of them--the plant will have tape recordings of same. He'll probably get roasted over "terroristic threats" as well as any assault weapons violations.
Friendly hint for those with lots of firearms, particularly if any of them are of dubious legality: keep a low profile.
Sounds like decomposing powder... NO2.
His name is Dave or Doug Reza (sp) and he may be a "native American".
The yellow gas was very old tear gas kept in an ammo can way too long. The officers cracked open the can and got a dose.
Travis, the only real argument I have with the Second Amendment as the Founding Fathers wrote it is that they didn't say "except for complete (improperly relating) idiots" and then strictly define same. Would've kept firearms out of the hands of MANY Induhviduals who do damage to the RKBA by their own foolishness in handling weapons. Come to think of it, they should've restricted the complete (improperly relating) idiots from VOTING while they were at it, too.
They thought they did. They required land ownership. It was later generations that enabled the pillaging idiots.
and roger said that every plane that leaves lindburgh field now has a marshall to prevent a fuel-laden plane from crashing into san onofre.
I'd like to hear the rest of the story though. Could be that someone knew of his collection and freaked about something he said out of the side of his mouth.
On a side note f**k CA and their "registration" laws.
If they thought that mere land ownership made one a non-idiot, then they were BIG-TIME idiots.
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