Posted on 05/17/2002 7:45:16 PM PDT by Temple Owl
Tourism, Not Terrorism, Behind Reservoir Visit
Associated Press
EASTON, Conn. -- It was tourism, not terrorism, behind suspicious activity at the Easton Reservoir that led to the arrests of three men for trespassing.
Police got a call about 7:30 p.m. Thursday that three men who appeared to be of Middle Eastern ancestry were on top of a water supply tank with a video camera.
Local police arrested the three men as they left the area in a car. Easton police then notified the FBI and state emergency response officials.
As it turned out, the three men are cousins from the Bridgeport area who had recently bought a new digital video camera and were passing by the reservoir, according to Michael J. Wolf, the top FBI agent in Connecticut.
"They drove by the reservoir, they saw the reservoir. It was beautiful scenery. They had just acquired the camera and they were videotaping," Wolf said.
Easton Police Chief John F. Solomon said Friday that authorities acted properly.
"I'm completely convinced we made the right moves when we made the arrests last night. Notifying state and federal officials is the thing we do in these days following Sept. 11," he said.
The three men were identified as Juned Ahmed Choudhury, 21, and Hassan Choudhury, 19, both of Bridgeport; and Redwander Chowdhury, 19, of Fairfield.
The three were released on their own recognizance and scheduled to return to court June 5.
Wolf said the FBI is confident there was no act of terrorism. He also said officials responded as they should have.
"Everything was done by the book," Wolf said.
State officials said testing of the water supply found no contamination.
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