Posted on 04/10/2002 2:24:47 AM PDT by ResistorSister
CANTON TWP. — Faiq Arshad Farooqi needed $25 to get out of the Stark County Jail. Abdiwahab Muhumed Madhobe needed $50.
As the FBI and the U.S. Department of Immigration and Naturalization looked into why they crashed a guarded gate Monday night at the Timken Co.’s Gambrinus plant, Sheriff Tim Swanson discovered that the two were in the area for legitimate reasons.
Unable to post bond, they had to sit in the Stark County Jail until a man who described himself as their boss showed up with the money at 8:36 p.m. Tuesday, said Sgt. Robert Burns. The man gave his address as North Olmsted.
A spokesman from the Engineering Network International of Bellview, Wash., told Swanson that one man is an engineer and the other is a driver. They were conducting cellular tower strength tests that include canvassing a specific area while checking cell tower strengths with specialized equipment.
All employees are supposed to “abide by all laws and respect private property during their canvassing,” the sheriff was told. They will be in this region for about a month.
The men will appear in Canton Municipal Court to answer to one charge each of criminal trespassing, a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
“This is an unusual circumstance,” said Robert Hawk, special agent at the FBI’s Cleveland office. “You have two Middle Eastern men who are crashing down the gate and they don’t appear to have a purpose. So we’re looking into that.”
The FBI is investigating the men’s backgrounds and asked the Immigration and Naturalization Service to check the men’s status “because of what U.S. Attorney Gen. John Ashcroft has said to the American public in the last seven months: If you see anything unusual or something doesn’t appear to be right, please call the FBI,” Hawk said.
Deputies are investigating, too.
“There were a lot of things that would cause a good police officer to have more questions,” Swanson said. “I don’t think they’re terrorists, but I think we need to check them out.”
His deputies were called at 10:40 p.m. Monday to the bearings and steel manufacturing plant at 2400 Gambrinus Ave. SW. The men had just driven a 1997 Toyota bearing a temporary Texas license tag past the guards without stopping.
“They did not identify themselves, and they did not stop their car at the security gate. They were not authorized to enter our company’s grounds,” said Mike Johnson, vice president of communications. “Our security officers followed standard security procedure. They followed the men and stopped them.”
Initially, Farooqi and Madhobe told deputies that they worked for a major telecommunications company, that they were checking cellular phone towers and testing cellular signals, Swanson said.
No cell towers are on the property.
The pair’s equipment included a laptop computer and a map, and their license plate’s temporary tag was registered to a different address than what they gave, Swanson said.
The longer they talked to the deputies, the more their explanations changed.
“In further interviewing the suspects, they had conflicting stories as to what their objective was and for whom they actually worked,” Swanson said.
The men told deputies they live in Texas. Farooqi, 25, gave his address as 88B De Jasdrail in Richardson, and Madhobe, 39, as 2215 New York Ave., No. 303 in Arlington.
Bond was set at $250 for Farooqi, a Pakistan native, and at $500 for Madhobe, who is a native of Kenya, Africa. Each needed to post only 10 percent of the bond.
Hawk said that while there doesn’t appear to be anything threatening about the men’s actions Monday, “We’re just looking at it preliminarily right now.”
You can reach Repository writer Lori Monsewicz at (330) 580-8309 or e-mail:
“In further interviewing the suspects, they had conflicting stories as to what their objective was and for whom they actually worked,” Swanson said.
Yet, they let them go. Great!
F.Y.I.:
The Timken Company
Men arrested in Detroit once lived normal lives in Canton
Associate of two terror suspects sought info on Canton's water system
There is already a "terrorist connection" in the area...wouldn't you think the authorities would be more concerned?
I am wondering the same thing.
Checking security test?
how bout this: Arab terrorist inflitrators test?
Let's hope someone is smart enough to get an image of the hard drive, before these guys are let go. And then go through it with a fine tooth comb.
Better yet, don't let them go. If they aren't citizens, they have proved themselves too stupid / too sneaky / unworthy of staying in our country. Jail them an appropriate time for trespassing, investigate them for wrongdoing, jail them longer if any is found, then deport.
I bet they did not get an image of the hard drive.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are such idiots, bent on assisting in our own destruction. And no, the primal scream didn't make me feel any better. What the He!! are Ridge and Ashcroft doing, if guys like this don't get a hard look before being released?
anyway...They won't voluntarily show up for court. Hopefully...someone is following them.
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