Teens drive stolen car onto anti-terrorism base

reuters ^ | Wed Sep 20, 2006 11:32 PM BST

[rightgrafix]

MIAMI (Reuters) - Two teenage car thieves drove a stolen car on Wednesday without being stopped onto the U.S. military base that commands much of the war on terror, triggering an investigation into the security breach, police and military officials said.

Police in Tampa, Florida, said the joyriders were only stopped and arrested after ramming two police cruisers that had entered MacDill Air Force Base in pursuit.

Police had been monitoring the vehicle as it sped through the Florida Gulf Coast city after eluding a police speed trap, said police spokeswoman Laura McElroy.

The car then "blasted through the gate at the base," and police at that point took up the chase and were waved through by Military Police, McElroy said.

There was nothing at the gate preventing entry to MacDill, which houses the U.S. Central Command, responsible for U.S. military operations in the Horn of Africa, Middle East and Central Asia and therefore for much of the U.S. war on terror.

Public affairs spokesman Air Force Lt. Larry van der Oord declined to discuss specific security measures in force at the gate but said an investigation had been launched.

"But the thing to remember is that this is an isolated incident. The suspects were apprehended very quickly once they made their way into the base and taken into custody," van der Oord said.

Davaraye Mungin, 16, and Damia Bowie, 16, both well-known to the police, face charges of grand theft auto, fleeing law enforcement, resisting arrest with violence and aggravated assault on a policeman. They may also face federal charges.

[MikefromOhio]

what's a "wisper"?

[airborne]

"But the thing to remember is that this is an isolated incident."

LOL! The guy actually said that!

[isom35]

were they beta testing Grand Theft Auto: MacDill?

[CodeMasterPhilzar]

That is shocking. At a Naval Station I previously worked at, a high speed chase by a County Deputy Sheriff ended when the suspects tires where shot out as they went through the gate. (back in the mid-late 1980s).

The "facility" I work at now has soldiers in camo at the gate, vehicle/tire barriers... And their M-16s do in fact have magazines in them... Anyone seriously violating the 15 mph approach speed will almost certainly be shot first, questioned later, if ever.

I'd expect some serious backside chewing at MacDill...