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| MICHELLE MOWAD, Special to The Mercury | October 17, 2001 |
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Posted on 10/17/2001 2:06:03 PM PDT by testforecho
| 2 found with video of Sears Tower |
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| 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 |
Agreed. It smells really bad. "We were just . . . turning around." Right.
During the Gulf War there was some guy on a radio show, maybe Art Bell (I know, I know), that went through several scenarios that Sadaam could use to strike against the US.
One included using a few people (less than 30) who were infected with smallpox or some manipulated strain of influenza, then when they approached the point that the disease was at its most contagious, putting them on planes to criss-cross the country.
I just remember it because it would be cheap and effective if you could find folks to do it.
Wasn't there some Bruce Willis movie that had the same theme... I can vaguely remember seeing it... Oh well.
I have a mental picture of the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark . . . "We have our top men working on it"
From the names in the article, these people aren't Arabs. Why do you assume they're Muslim?
Same here. I've been looking all over for a state, but haven't found one yet.
Man arrested in terrorism investigation had applied for truck-driving job, official says
By MIKE ROBINSON, Associated Press
CHICAGO (October 16, 2001 8:49 p.m. EDT) - A man arrested in the terrorism investigation who had obtained a hazardous-material trucker's license was turned down for a truck-driving job in August, a company official confirmed Tuesday.
Nabil Al-Marabh, 34, had a Michigan commercial driver's license that enabled him to haul hazardous materials, but he was turned down because he was driving on a traffic ticket, said Michael Parise, president and owner of Container Express Inc. in the Chicago suburb of Summit.
Al-Marabh, a former Boston cabbie, was arrested Sept. 19 in suburban Burbank on immigration charges and a fugitive warrant from Massachusetts. He was transferred to New York after several days of questioning.
In June, Al-Marabh was caught trying to enter the United States from Canada with a fake Canadian passport. He was handed over to Canadian authorities and later released on bail but didn't show up for a Sept. 13 court appearance.
The U.S. Customs Service has discovered financial transactions between al-Marabh and Raed Hijazi, a suspect in the failed plot to kill Americans in Jordan during the millennium celebration, law enforcement officials have told The Associated Press.
Parise said he had been contacted by the FBI. FBI spokesman Ross Rice declined to comment. Al-Marabh's application for a driving job was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Parise said Al-Marabh proposed Aug. 20 that he drive a truck belonging to another man under contract with Container Express. Parise declined to identify the other man.
Al-Marabh also lacked a required report telling how many tickets he had received, Parise said. The report arrived Sept. 28 from Michigan and showed many violations, Parise said.
Amen to that. This is what everyone needs to do. No more of the old "but I don't want to get involved" crap.
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