Posted on 03/21/2004 8:29:53 AM PST by veronica
ONTARIO - A Chaffey College student is in federal custody after trying to gain entry to the Ontario International Airport airfield and posing as a Secret Service agent.
Federal prosecutors have charged Mostafa Mansoori of Rancho Cucamonga, 20, with making false statements and attempting entry to a secure airport area by false pretenses, court documents show.
The Ontario Airport Police Department on Monday detained Mansoori, who said he was "on a protective assignment for President Bush," and then notified the Secret Service, which is conducting an investigation.
"The fact that the individual was caught and didn't gain access is the biggest thing for people to understand," said Michael Moregon, resident agent in charge for the U.S. Secret Service in Riverside. "The cooperation between the federal agencies and local authorities resulted in this guy being stopped. It starts with the fact that the Ontario Airport Police actually responded to him being there and they detained him. They could have let him go."
Two days before his arrest, Mansoori was cited for trespassing on a naval air station in Imperial County, according to court documents.
Federal prosecutors said Mansoori will be evaluated for competence. A decision about whether he will be prosecuted is expected to be made within a few weeks, said Sheri Pym, an assistant U.S. attorney in Riverside.
"We'll look at everything," Pym said. "We just need to find out all of the circumstances before we make a decision."
Mansoori, who was described as being cooperative, is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. He was ordered detained without bail on Monday, Moregon said.
Mansoori, wearing a black suit with pilot's wings and sunglasses, attempted to follow a marked police car Monday through a security gate leading to the airport's main runway, according to court documents.
Driving his 2003 blue Honda Civic, he tried to drive through the gate after police officers used their security identification cards to enter before him. The gate, however, closed before Mansoori's vehicle was able to get through.
When a security guard ordered him to leave, Mansoori parked at the gate and refused to leave. After the guard called for assistance, Mansoori stated: "I am on the President's security detail and need to go out there to catch a Learjet to Washington D.C. on a protective assignment for President Bush," according to the federal complaint.
When a police officer asked for a badge or identification card, he produced a California driver's license and an alien registration card.
Mansoori agreed to speak with officers and to a vehicle search. He stated again that he needed to take a Learjet to Washington D.C. to see the president.
In the vehicle, officers found a citation issued by the Naval Criminal Intelligence Service for trespassing issued last Saturday. Mansoori said he was detained after driving past a security checkpoint at El Centro Naval Air Station to access a Blue Angels show that was about to start on the airfield.
In an interview with the FBI and the Secret Service, he said he planned to board a Lear jet at Ontario the same way Secret Service and FBI agents board planes by driving onto the airfield through secure gates.
Mansoori said he was carrying a green four-inch box cutter in his car's trunk Monday as he was attempting to gain access but said he had no intentions to use it as a weapon, according to court documents.
He also consented to a search of his residence and told Secret Service agents that he had a pellet gun at home in his desk. No pellet gun was found but a plastic container containing pellets, the manual for a Daisy pellet gun and about five box cutters were found.
Relatives declined comment Friday, as did Mansoori's public defender.
Mansoori was also interviewed by the FBI in May 2003 after he went onto a restricted rooftop of the Stratosphere Hotel in Las Vegas with a scanner and refused to obey a security guard's instructions, according to court documents.
Mansoori is a part-time student at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga and was a part-time employee of a Jack In The Box in Rancho Cucamonga.
"He was a fine person," said Daniel Paz, assistant manager at the Foothill Boulevard restaurant who worked with Mansoori for more than a year. "He was funny at times, and would joke around with us; other times he would be serious...He was an average kid to me."
Mansoori worked hard and was being trained as a shift leader until he was detained on Monday, Paz said.
"He was always thinking about how he could better his life school-wise," he said.
A follower of Islam?
Liberal education alert .......ABOUT five box cutters.
What? A space alien card?
This guy's a couple of taquitos shy of a combo plate.
Airport Police Detain Student (from President Bush's Visit) [free republic]
Two incidents of him doing this, one where he tried to get near Bush in your link.
Also either they got it wrong in one of the articles or his Honda Civic changed colors between the two incidents.
Stay safe !
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.