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2 Middle Eastern men found with video of Sears Tower
The Mercury ^ | October 17, 2001 | MICHELLE MOWAD

Posted on 10/17/2001 2:06:03 PM PDT by testforecho

2 found with video of Sears Tower
MICHELLE MOWAD, Special to The Mercury October 17, 2001
PLYMOUTH -- Two men whom police described as Middle Eastern were detained in the township by federal immigration authorities after being found with detailed video footage of the Sears Tower in Chicago.
Plymouth Police encountered the men after an officer responded to Pizzeria Uno on the 1000 block of West Ridge Pike at 2:40 p.m. Thursday for a report of illegal dumping, according to reports.

A manager there advised the police officer that a tractor-trailer was observed backed up to the Dumpster at the rear of the restaurant. The manager noticed a freshly dumped pile of furniture adjacent to the Dumpster, according to police.

The manager confronted the vehicle's operator, a Middle Eastern man, police said.

The man, who later identified himself as Moshe Elmakias, 30, denied that he did anything and fled the scene, heading west on West Ridge Pike, according to police.

The manager was able to provide township police with the Florida registration number of the tractor-trailer and said that a sign posted on the side of the vehicle read "Moving Systems Incorporated" and included a phone number, police said.

The area was searched by township police, and the vehicle was spotted parked on the curb in front of John Kennedy Ford on Ridge Pike, just west of Industrial Way.

An officer proceeded to make contact with the occupants of the truck by knocking on the cab, according to reports.

A Middle Eastern man, later identified as Ron Katar, 23, exited the sleeper area of the cab and said that the operator was across the street as he pointed toward the Don Rosen Porsche dealer, reports said.

Elmakias and a white female, Ayelet Reisler, 23, were approaching the vehicle from the dealership, but the female then began walking in a different direction, acting as if she were not with Elmakias, according to reports.

Reisler was detained and checked for identification. She had a German passport in her name and medication in a different name, police said.

Plymouth Police Sgt. Thomas Longo was notified and responded to the incident.

Elmakias allegedly admitted to being behind Pizzeria Uno, although he said that he did not dump furniture, he was only turning around.

Elmakias said that his destination was New York and that he was also coming from New York. He said he was in Plymouth because he was supposed to make a pickup from a male in the morning and pointed toward the Storage USA facility on Belvoir Road and West Ridge Pike, police said.

Elmakias could not, however, provide a name or telephone number of the customer.

Township police dispatched a request for a Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program Inspector. Officer Gerald Schwartz of the Whitpain Police Department responded.

Schwartz discovered through his investigation that the operator's log had been falsified and put the truck out of service due to violations, police said. In addition, the vehicle reportedly had numerous equipment violations that rendered the truck unsafe.

Inspection of the tractor-trailer's contents revealed a load three-quarters full containing household items, including furniture and boxes.

Among the items in the truck was a Sony video camera.

Plymouth Police Officer David McCann reviewed the tape found inside the camera. The tape had video footage of Chicago with zoomed-in shots of the Sears Tower, according to police.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified of the incident and all three subjects were transported to the Plymouth Police station.

The subjects were then processed through the National Crime Information Center and placed into detention, according to the report.

FBI Agents James Sweeney and Richard Tofani arrived at the station and proceeded to investigate both the subjects and their belongings with the assistance of Immigration and Naturalization Services.

Elmakias and Katar were eventually detained by INS and transported to a federal facility, said police. Reisler was released.

All evidence collected by Plymouth and Whitpain officers was transferred to federal facilities with the exception of a VCR.

Special Agent Linda Vizi, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia FBI, could not be contacted for comment on further investigations.

©The Mercury 2001


TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
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To: He Rides A White Horse
Do they still sell those soft pretzels by the bridge going to Jersey?
121 posted on 10/17/2001 4:53:31 PM PDT by jaz.357
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To: testforecho
Kill them!!!
122 posted on 10/17/2001 4:55:29 PM PDT by Wolfhound77
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To: IceGirl2
I'm sure this gal has a tail on her, no pun intended, which will follow her to the nest of snakes behind this.
123 posted on 10/17/2001 5:02:23 PM PDT by rstevens
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To: RetiredArmy
I have detailed videos of Yellowstone last summer. I hope I am not a suspect at this point. However, I will tell them it is for a Discovery Channel special!

i suspect you are just trying to be funny, but when you have mid-eastern people here, caught doing something unexplainable , with out valid licenses, acting suspicious with film footage of a towering building thought to be a target for terrorists...well, then , there are no silly reactions by officials.

124 posted on 10/17/2001 5:04:03 PM PDT by cherry
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To: cgk
Re: Middle Easterners Taking notes at Willow Grove, PA, air show .... Anyone else out there ready for internment camps, at least until we can sort this out??? No flames, please.
125 posted on 10/17/2001 5:13:34 PM PDT by Califreeper
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To: DoughtyOne
Why in the name of comment sense was Reisler let go?

Maybe they put a tail on Reisler so the police/FBI can trace her activities. Maybe they already have a wire tap warrant etc.

Now that I think of it, they could call it "Follow the Honey" (cheap knockoff of another well-known phrase)

126 posted on 10/17/2001 5:14:30 PM PDT by Go Gordon
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To: wtc911; Thinkin' Gal; Jeremiah Jr; babylonian; Zadokite; Manny Festo; TrueBeliever9...
...They were turned over to the FBI. You won't read about this.....but it happened.

!!!

127 posted on 10/17/2001 5:14:30 PM PDT by 2sheep
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To: FR_addict
Re driving around to disperse anthrax packages.... This is not an impossible scenario. Remember Ted Kacyznski, the UniBomber? He drove six hours once just to mail one of his bizarro letters...
128 posted on 10/17/2001 5:19:00 PM PDT by Califreeper
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To: RaceBannon
Don't forget Plymouth, ENGLAND
129 posted on 10/17/2001 5:20:59 PM PDT by Califreeper
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To: truth_seeker
I remember Bader-Meinhof VERY WELL. I visited the Munich Olympic venues in 1972 just one month before the games/bombings.
130 posted on 10/17/2001 5:22:05 PM PDT by Califreeper
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To: Go Gordon
Here's to hoping you're right and my first inclination was off base. Gotta tell you that you're betting on long odds from where I stand. Grin.
131 posted on 10/17/2001 5:22:24 PM PDT by DoughtyOne
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To: cgk
Drudge also reported last night that some middle-easterners were at the Willow Grove Air Show observing restricted areas and taking notes.

I don't like this at all. Too close! I see and hear those planes all the time. I thought I lived out in East Jesus, but apparently not. :( You wouldn't happen to have the article handy, would you?

~Snowy

132 posted on 10/17/2001 5:22:28 PM PDT by Snowy
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To: kempo
This will not stop until all mid-eastern types here on a visa are sent back to where they came from.

Just an observation: Since we are no longer issuing visa's, it won't be long before ALL foreigners that are still here will be considered here illegally. Hence, law enforcement will have every right to pick them up, hold them and interrogate them.

However, deportation is not good enough for me. Anyone caught illegally in this country should be imprisoned for 5 years of hard labor. What kind of labor? Well, maybe the construction of a 3000+ mile border wall to our north and south would be a good start. What do you think? It sure beats just sending them back so they can return to Canada and just walk back into the US.

If the only punishment is deportation, thats like telling bank robbers that if you get caught, your only punishment is having to give the money back.....IMHO

133 posted on 10/17/2001 5:23:39 PM PDT by Go Gordon
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To: testforecho
It's us or them. What will we choose?

End the threats now, end them VICIOUSLY, but end them. In war, you live or die- I prefer to live.

134 posted on 10/17/2001 5:25:42 PM PDT by Principled
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To: He Rides A White Horse
A state with places named Philadelphia, Valley Forge, Independence Hall; things like the First Continental Congress, the Liberty Bell has been transformed into DemoCreep Commieland. Blech!

Without a doubt, one of the saddest, most insightful comments I've EVER seen on FR.

Stay safe. My daughter is in Pittsburgh. I'm praying for you all.

135 posted on 10/17/2001 5:33:35 PM PDT by mombonn
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To: mombonn
Stay safe. My daughter is in Pittsburgh. I'm praying for you all.

Thank you. I thought I was relatively safe out here, but apparently not. Oh, and did I mention that a nuclear power plant is 30 minutes away? ***nervous grin***

136 posted on 10/17/2001 5:38:59 PM PDT by Snowy
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To: testforecho
Did this happen last Thursday, October 11th?
137 posted on 10/17/2001 5:39:30 PM PDT by malia
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To: testforecho; Jaidyn; peabers; CheneyChick
"Elmakias said that his destination was New York and that he was also coming from New York. He said he was in Plymouth because he was supposed to make a pickup from a male in the morning and pointed toward the Storage USA facility on Belvoir Road and West Ridge Pike, police said."

Elmakias could not, however, provide a name or telephone number of the customer."

This is frightening, thank GOD people are becoming involved and reporting suspicious things....This will be their Undoing - because NOW we are watching, the "free" ride is OVER

They are like programmed Animals (pigs) to me, they know only one thing - to KILL Innocent people. In everything else, they are stupid!

138 posted on 10/17/2001 5:43:49 PM PDT by SunnyUsa
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To: IceGirl2
It is crazy to release the woman

That was the first thing that came to my mind, too.

Like she's not involved in this up to her eyebrows? When she saw the cops, she pretended she wasn't associated with them.

AND THEY LET HER GO?

Can we go with a little gut reaction here?

139 posted on 10/17/2001 5:43:56 PM PDT by Madame Dufarge
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To: Snowy
Oh, and did I mention that a nuclear power plant is 30 minutes away? ***nervous grin***

Speculation on 9/11 was that a PA nuclear power plant was a target that day. I doubt it, given that the flight was heading back toward DC.

As soon as I heard a flight had been hijacked, and headed back toward DC, I started praying for Pittsburgh - I knew the path.

Never was I so grateful as when I heard from my daughter, after not being able to get through to her.

Stay safe.

140 posted on 10/17/2001 5:48:21 PM PDT by mombonn
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