Chase suspects held without bond
By Julie Ball, Staff WriterMay 10, 2004 10:54 p.m.
MARS HILL - Federal agents investigating two Israeli men charged with eluding Tennessee authorities found only furniture in searching a storage unit in Madison County Monday, according to the Unicoi County, Tenn., sheriff.
Sheriff Kent Harris said FBI agents searched the facility, which the men reportedly rented, but they found no evidence of anything suspicious.
The men, 22-year-old Shmuel Dahan and 19-year-old Almaliach Naor have told investigators they were on their way to West Virginia to deliver furniture.
They were arrested Saturday after a chase.
Both men were held without bond Monday afternoon as authorities sought to verify their passports.
Once the men were apprehended, officers found a fake Florida driver's license with Naor's picture on it in a duffel bag in the truck and a business card from a Florida flight instructor in one of the men's wallets.
The card read: "Learn how to fly" and "Fulfill your dream of flying" and listed the name and number of a Florida flight instructor.
The discovery led Harris and others to express concern about security at the Nuclear Fuel Services plant in Erwin. The plant makes nuclear fuel for submarines.
Harris spotted the Ryder truck the men were in about 3 p.m. Saturday on Old U.S. 23 near Flag Pond, Tenn. The truck was moving erratically and traveling at speeds of more than 60 mph, well above the maximum speed on the curvy road, according to Harris.
The sheriff said he turned on his blue light and siren, but the truck continued for more than two miles before stopping. Some people attending a cookout on Old U.S. 23 reported seeing someone in the truck toss out a brown, plastic container during the chase, Harris said.
"They (the people at the cookout) heard us coming and saw them throw that out," he said.
Dahan is charged with reckless driving, evading arrest, littering and false identification. Naor, a passenger in the truck, is charged with false identification.
Dahan's attorney, William B. Lawson of Erwin, said the men might have gotten lost and ended up on the mountain road.
"They got lost, big time," Lawson said. "It doesn't seem like they have anything to hide."
Harris said early Monday afternoon he was waiting on the results of tests on the liquid substance in the brown container. The bottle contained a "gooey liquid" and some sort of pellets. The bottle appeared as if it had once held pesticides of some sort, but the label was missing. Field tests done by officers turned up no evidence of drugs. "We don't know exactly what's in it yet," Harris said.
The men maintain the container did not come from the truck, according to Harris. The Ryder truck contained old furniture.
The Florida flight instructor, Nissan Giat, said he met Naor at a moving company where the Israeli man works. Giat said he gave Naor one of his cards, but the man didn't express interest in flying lessons.
Giat said Naor was recently released from the Israeli army. "He's a good guy," Giat said. "He's not a terrorist."
Harris said the men rented the truck in Florida, where they were living and working.
The FBI confirmed both men are in the United States legally, and neither man has a criminal record, according to Harris. The sheriff was waiting for word Monday on the status of one of the men's passports.
Staff Writer Clarke Morrison contributed to this report.
The Mossad is so darn clever. :))