Posted on 09/19/2002 11:52:38 AM PDT by meia
Earlier reports from authorities said that Kambiz Butt ran the tollbooth without paying.
Thursday, September 19, 2002
By BRIGID O'MALLEY, bmomalley@naplesnews.com
The Collier County Sheriff's Office has voided the ticket given to the driver of one of the cars stopped on Alligator Alley last week during a terrorism scare, saying the tollkeeper Wednesday recalled taking the $1.50 from the man.
"She was very nervous at the time," said Collier Sheriff Don Hunter.
He said the tollbooth attendant, who had earlier given a sworn statement that the driver hadn't paid, had spotted the tag on the front of the car which had been given as part of a description to all tollkeepers in the state as a car that needed to be stopped by authorities.
"She became flustered and didn't recall," Hunter said. He said it was a Car Max tag on the front of the car that caught her attention.
Earlier reports from authorities said that Kambiz Butt, 25, the driver of one of the two cars stopped on the Alley on Friday to be checked out for a possible terrorism-related incident, ran the tollbooth without paying.
Alligator Alley was shut down in both directions for 17 hours, and the men, who were headed to Larkin Hospital in South Miami to start work as medical students, were detained between 11:45 p.m. Thursday and 6 p.m. Friday while they were questioned by local, state and federal authorities.
Eunice Stone reported to police that they'd been in a Shoney's restaurant in Calhoun, Ga., on Thursday morning and were laughing about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and saying that another, even worse, attack was set for Sept. 13, the day they were stopped at Mile Marker No. 92 on the interstate. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued the alert.
All three men, Ayman Gheith, 27, Omar Choudhary, 23, and Butt, who are of Middle Eastern descent, have denied talking about Sept. 11 or any attacks on Miami. They've appeared on news shows around the nation since the stop.
But a Collier deputy, Darrel Kehne, on special patrol, looking for the cars and their occupants, spotted the two cars and stopped them. A Collier sheriff's bomb detection dog alerted on the rear of both cars and that brought dozens of officers to the Alley.
Authorities after the daylong investigation, which included a search by a bomb-detecting robot, helicopters bearing special equipment and a thorough scouring of the cars, determined the incident was a hoax. The searches turned up no signs of explosives or bomb-making material.
Deputies, after interviewing the tollkeeper after the stop, wrote a ticket — the fine is $100 plus $26 in court costs — to Butt.
But the videotape at the tollbooth on Interstate 75 also shows a transaction between Butt and the tollbooth attendant, Hunter said. The ticket should be officially voided today, Hunter said.
Hunter said investigators showed the tollkeeper, who'd already given a sworn statement saying Butt's car had run the tollbooth, the video which logs the transaction Wednesday.
"He reached his hand out. She reached her hand out," Hunter said. "There appears to have been a transaction. Then she excitedly waves her hand toward the east. We believe she was trying to flag us down."
Butt contended that he paid the toll, Hunter said.
"It would not be fair not to check it out," he said.
He said the second car did stop and ask if Butt had paid the toll.
Hunter described the toll taker as "nervous" at the time.
"She said she wasn't scared," he said.
David Kubiliun, one of the attorneys representing the men, said they are pleased the ticket was voided.
"My understanding is that it was voided because videotape showed Mr. Butt did pay the toll," Kubiliun said. "He's very pleased. We're all gratified."
Hunter speculated the attorneys will try to take on other aspects of the stop.
"I'm sure their attorneys will say, 'If this was wrong, what else was wrong?' " Hunter said. "But I'm firm on the rest of it."
He said investigators are still running down other parts of the probe, which he didn't disclose.
"We haven't reached any dead ends," Hunter said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Not even Albert Camus could have made this stuff up.
UF (University of Florida) is in Gainesville. FSU (Florida State University) is in Tallahassee. USF (University of South Florida) is in Tampa.
-PJ
I watched the coverage on this, and I think if you get ahold of the Fox videotapes of that day, you'll find that the characterization of the license plate as "fake" did not come from LE, who early on said merely that "the plate didn't match the car." That was factual, even though the mismatch was not for sinister reasons. Under the circumstances, the mismatch was cause for concern.
instead of saying the dogs found explosives, they could have waited until they searched the cars and then announced that they found no explosives in the cars.
That's pretty funny, since, after daybreak, the entire scene on I-75 was broadcast and witnessed around the world. After seeing hours of video showing the bombsquad in protective suits, and a robot searching the car, anyone who couldn't surmise that there were explosives detected would have to be mentally defective.
On the last point: the toll booth operator thought they blew the toll. Whether they did or not, it was a convenient excuse for the cops to stop them , in an isolated area that would provide minimum risk to the public, before they got to Miami and disappeared in the crowd. Even with all the post-9/11 "Muslim discrimination" these guys scream about, a report of an overheard terrorist plot wasn't enough to stop them, lest we violate their civil right to whoop it up over 9/11.
If these three items prove to you that Stone was lying, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.
I can wait for the transcripts of what they said and when they said it. Meanwhile, NOTHING Eunice has said has been refuted. So why does your headline pick on her?
-PJ
I hoping the FBI is on these three punks like stink on limburger until this war is over.
It doesn't prove that Ms Stone is lying. Neither does the fact that the three students are of Middle Eastern heritage prove that they are lying.
So?
The wrong plate is the fault of the bureaucracy of the motor vehicle department. Not Eunice's fault.
The report of the first car running the toll booth was because the toll operator was so nervous when she realized this was the car police were looking for. She got so nervous she forgot that they had paid. Not Eunice's fault.
The dog marking on the scent was the mistake of the dog, or a misread by its handler. Again, not Eunice's fault. Although, I'm sure Eunice is quite well connected, I doubt she enlisted the help of the toll booth operator, K-9 squad and DMV to harass these guys.
So, the media reported the facts accurately in real time, but it turned out well for the towelheads. Good for them. I still believe Eunice and I believe she did the right thing - she exhibited the Paula Jones syndrome of acting immediately, not ten years after the fact.
Thankfully, Gov. Bush has publicly praised her. Now, where is the head of homeland security? Tom Ridge, didn't Eunice do exactly what you want all citizens to do?
Oh yeah! And she will be too if the left wing media has its way. They tried like he!! from the first report to paint her as a gum chewing, hillbilly waitress instead of the mature, wife, mother and nurse that she actually is.
It tells me they are idiotic and are well desrving of our scorn.
That the students were delayed on the side of the road concerns me not at all.
-PJ
This little fifth columnist, (meia), is WAY past eager!
I agree. I think we have a similar setup at Friendly's Restaurants around here. The booths are side by side with a fake wall (with lattice at top) separating the booths.
Since the student was accusing her of eavesdropping, I guess we are left with the conclusion that he wanted her to plug her ears so he could talk without her hearing anything.
She had nothing to do with any reports about the license plate, or the toll booth, or the police dogs.
We were on heightened alert. Three men "joked" about bringing down a building, and the WTC deaths.
This is one of those common sense, line in the sand moments. You're either with Eunice....
Why would they do that, woofie? If we weren't too damn PC to do it they'd represent a perfect profile.
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