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.
Let me see... 9/11 was the FBI's fault because they didn't check out terrorism leads that they had. Now the Florida highway patrol is at fault for checking out terrorism leads that they had.
What's wrong with this picture?
Your premise - these are "main" elements. Why are they "main" elements?
Did Ms. Stone have a connection to these? No. Tearing down straw man arguments have no relation to her.
BTW, did anyone say explosives were actually in the car? Cops still say that explosives could have been in the car in the past.
That the police in Florida didn't check out their information either? Just went public with it for as much publicity as they could get?
Did Ms. Stone have a connection to these? No. Tearing down straw man arguments have no relation to her.
No one said that Ms Stone had a connection with them. Her story is the 4th element.
The reason they are elements is because they were used as reasons to justify their guilt. In other words, it provided a trail of incriminating acts which would lend credence to their guilt from the first alleged act. That of either plotting to blow up something in Miami or at the very least, of perpetuating a hoax.
We have yet to learn if Eunice told the truth when she said she overheard them talk about heading to Miami.
We have yet to learn whether it is true the students actually told the police it was a prank or whether it is true they told the police they didn't say anything at all (that could be construed as talking about terrorism).
Also, if the 3 young men are so concerned about "truth" why did they smear Eunice by calling her a liar?
She was accused of eavesdropping in a public place.
If she were nosily eavesdropping (as the students claimed) you'd think she would not have misunderstood what they were saying.
Finally: What is wrong about listening to a nearby conversation in a restaurant? I'm sure screenwriters and other authors do it all the time.
Once they put out an APB on a couple of vehicles the cat is out of the bag. The media can jump on it if they elect to do so.
Did you forget that the poor sensitive Islamist "victims" admit to saying that America would weep on September 13th more than they had on September 11th at the Shoney's because they didn't like they way Eunice Stone was looking at them?
The little smartasses' act blew up in their whiny little faces, and they are so incensed.
Where's my Barf Bag?
I still believe Eunice Stone's story is true. If it isn't my faith in a lot of things will slide further. Her story can still be true even though the original license plate story and toll booth story are not.
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