Posted on 05/11/2004 7:07:56 PM PDT by ConservoMan
And they were driving erratically, and very fast. Course anyone who has driven in Israel, (or anywhere in Europe) is familiar with that sort of thing. Stop! mean GO FASTER. :)
Really? The news reports I've read are very clear. Uninteresting and dull (no suspicious materials found yet) - but clear.
NOTE N.C. interest beginning in 9th graf
Associated Press
ERWIN, Tenn. - Two Israeli men were being held Tuesday on a detainer warrant after they led Unicoi County authorities on a high-speed chase in a rented moving truck over the weekend.
Shmuel Dahan, 23, is being held in the Unicoi County Jail on charges of reckless driving, littering, false identification and evading arrest. His bond was set at $10,000. Almaliach Naor, 19, faces a $5,000 bond on charges of false identification.
Unicoi County Sheriff Kent Harris said the two men will be turned over to Immigration and Naturalization Services, which he said placed a detainer warrant on the men.
"Their passports in the country were only for tourists, and they were doing things that weren't part of their passports," Harris said.
A spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement couldn't comment on the case while the men were in the custody of local authorities.
The two men could be deported, Harris said.
Israeli Deputy Consul General Aviv Ezra in Atlanta said the sheriff told him it was a misunderstanding and that the two men were overwhelmed by the process.
"If they did something that was wrong, out of parameters of the law ... they have to pay the punishment," Ezra said.
The chase began late Saturday afternoon when Harris noticed a rental truck traveling up to 20 miles per hour over the speed limit along former U.S. Highway 23, a lightly traveled highway near the North Carolina state line. The truck was rented from a Ryder office in Mars Hills, N.C., officials have said.
Harris said the men didn't stop for about two and a half miles, and that witnesses saw them throw a bottle out the window.
A witness gave the bottle to authorities, and it contained a substance first identified as a "fuel source" that Harris sent for testing in Sevierville. The chemical mix turned out not to be explosive, but similar in makeup to furniture stripping solution.
"It's very dangerous to drink it, but other than that, there's nothing harmful," Harris said.
Harris and Ezra said the men deny the bottle came from their vehicle.
"I called the witnesses back in and both told me the same thing," Harris said. "The bottle was spinning in the road after the pursuit came by."
Harris said he's been buying food for the men outside of the jail food because of the men's religious dietary restrictions.
"We've been very good to them, and they have not caused any problems in the jail," he said.
William B. Lawson, one of the lawyers appointed to represent the Israeli men, said they rented a truck and were hauling furniture when they accidentally got off the interstate and got lost.
Highly unlikely but deport them anyway for disrespecting our laws. Let Israeli society manage their driving records.
Well said
Among other cleaning uses, sometimes it is used to clean out residue in tanker trailers. Might take a lot more of it than one little bottle, though.
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