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Teens drive stolen car onto anti-terrorism base
reuters ^ | Wed Sep 20, 2006 11:32 PM BST

Posted on 09/20/2006 4:37:53 PM PDT by 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.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Florida; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: isolatedincident; macdillairforcebase; usamsmsilent; waronidiots; wot
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1 posted on 09/20/2006 4:37:54 PM PDT by rightgrafix
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To: rightgrafix

Just send them on to "Club Gitmo"


2 posted on 09/20/2006 4:38:46 PM PDT by traditional1
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To: rightgrafix

Chicanery!


3 posted on 09/20/2006 4:40:12 PM PDT by null and void (Islamic communities belong in Islamic countries.- Eric in the Ozarks)
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To: rightgrafix; Cindy

I'm quite suprised at the line,

There was nothing at the gate preventing entry to MacDill


4 posted on 09/20/2006 4:40:24 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
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To: Jet Jaguar

Me too, they should at least have a chicane.


5 posted on 09/20/2006 4:41:32 PM PDT by null and void (Islamic communities belong in Islamic countries.- Eric in the Ozarks)
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To: Jet Jaguar

OPINION: Well the source of the article al-Reuters, the UK division.

I think I would like a few more details as to how this happened.


6 posted on 09/20/2006 4:43:30 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: rightgrafix

Rent-a-cops at the gate? Retractable bollards? Haven't been to MacDill in awhile. Some AF security forces don't seem to have a shoot to kill ethos, and I'm sure ROE stateside is more like be REALLY REALLY SURE before you shoot. If they have live ammo...


7 posted on 09/20/2006 4:43:36 PM PDT by Felis_irritable
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To: Jet Jaguar
I'm quite suprised at the line, There was nothing at the gate preventing entry to MacDill

Consider the source: Al-Reuters.

8 posted on 09/20/2006 4:43:40 PM PDT by NautiNurse (Katherine Harris for U.S. Senate)
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To: Jet Jaguar
If the guards would have shot and killed the boys, Reuters would not have a favorable headline either. If the Toon was still President, the headline would have read "Youths apprehended after Police chase without incident at Military Base." or something like that.

The guards saw that the police were already in pursuit and they made the correct call. Otherwise, these boys would have been dead.
9 posted on 09/20/2006 4:44:16 PM PDT by lmr (The answers to life don't involve complex solutions.)
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To: rightgrafix
They're lucky to be alive.. We just are NOT taking terrorists seriously.. What if the car was packed with the same kind of explosives as Oklahoma City? how far did they get on base before they were stopped?.. THE MILITARY NEEDS TO BE ON TOP OF THIS!
10 posted on 09/20/2006 4:44:43 PM PDT by dcrider182 (thanks Dad ,for raising me right!)
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To: rightgrafix
The suspects were apprehended very quickly once they made their way into the base and taken into custody

Does anyone at Rooters realize how utterly inane this sentence is?

11 posted on 09/20/2006 4:45:30 PM PDT by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: lmr

I would hope the guards are not concerned with bad press when something like this happens. They are armed for a reason.


12 posted on 09/20/2006 4:47:03 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
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To: Izzy Dunne
Not to mention redundantly repetitious, too.

;^)

13 posted on 09/20/2006 4:47:08 PM PDT by SAJ (debunking myths about markets and prices on FR since 2001)
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To: rightgrafix

Anyone care to bet what the al-reuters' story would be if security gate guards had killed these kids?

I'm not surprised that kids weren't shot, but I am surprised that the base either doesn't have pop up gates, or more likely that they were triggered.


14 posted on 09/20/2006 4:49:19 PM PDT by SampleMan (American Patriot - Hated by totalitarian windbags since 1776.)
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To: rightgrafix

Every military base is an anti-terrorism base you anal Frenchies.


15 posted on 09/20/2006 4:49:20 PM PDT by DaBroasta (Help stop the hate--vote Republican)
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To: Jet Jaguar; All

This is under "Oddly Enough News."


16 posted on 09/20/2006 4:49:55 PM PDT by rightgrafix
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To: Jet Jaguar
There was nothing at the gate preventing entry to MacDill

Yea, surprised look on face here, too.

Someone tries that at Nellis and I'd bet your axles are separated from the car in short order.

I just assumed that all bases did that same thing.

Hmmmmm........

17 posted on 09/20/2006 4:50:18 PM PDT by LasVegasMac (Islam........not fit for human consumption.)
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To: Jet Jaguar

Hmmm...

OPINION:3 am, traffic shut down to 1 lane and the guards on duty could have used deadly force in this incident.

I really don't know why they didn't Jet Jaguar.


http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/newswire/comments/police_pursuit_ends_at_macdill_past_centcom/

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Tampa police were tracking Davaraye Mungin and Damia Bowie, both 16, as they sped south on Dale Mabry Highway toward MacDill in a 2000 Chrysler Cirrus.

By the time police contacted armed guards at MacDill’s Dale Mabry gate, the vehicle was already on the base, according to Air Force 1st Lt. Larry van der Oord, a base spokesman."


18 posted on 09/20/2006 4:51:14 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: Cindy

Nice find. These kids are lucky the are alive.


19 posted on 09/20/2006 4:53:29 PM PDT by rightgrafix
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To: LasVegasMac

Same here.

I wonder if contractor gate guards were on duty at the time.


20 posted on 09/20/2006 4:54:00 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
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