FBI investigates Army imposter (re: interstate bridge collapse)

News Oklahoma ^ | June 5, 2002 | AP

[Prodigal Daughter]

FBI investigates Army imposter
2002-06-05
By The Associated Press

The FBI is investigating a man who called himself an Army captain and looked through a briefcase and laptop computer belonging to a victim of last month's deadly interstate bridge collapse.

The man, wearing fatigues and a beret, showed up within two hours of the Interstate 40 collapse and told the mayor he was in charge. He identified himself as Capt. William Clark.

Mayor Jewell Horne said Wednesday that the man told her Army Capt. Andrew Clements had died in the river and that his briefcase and laptop were in the water. A fisherman found the items the day of the collapse and gave them to a Webbers Falls police officer.

The officer gave the items to Clark, who took them and went through them, the mayor said. He brought the briefcase and computer to city hall later that day and asked the mayor to lock them in a safe.

He wanted the key, but Horne said she refused to give it to him.

"He kept trying to say that he was in charge," Horne said. "I finally looked at him and said, 'No, you're not. Until the governor declares martial law, you are not in charge in this town.'"

The mysterious man left Webbers Falls on Monday night, she said.

The mayor said it was eerie that the man knew Clements was among the victims even before his body was recovered.

"But he was correct," she said. "There was a Capt. Clements. There was a briefcase and there was a computer."

Clements, 35, of Woodbridge, Va., was among 14 people killed May 26 when a barge hit the Interstate 40 bridge, causing it to topple into the Arkansas River.

Horne said she was so busy answering phones and directing rescuers that she "didn't have time to think a lot" or check the man's credentials. Two volunteers from the Tulsa medical examiner's office eventually called authorities to check on him, she said.

The FBI, the Army and police in Van Buren and Fort Smith, Ark., are looking for the man, said FBI spokesman Gary Johnson. He said the man obtained goods and services by impersonating a rescue worker.

"It's certainly a very intense investigation," Johnson said.

Authorities are looking into whether the man stayed at a hotel in Van Buren, Ark., free under the auspices of taking part in the rescue operation.

The man also told an Associated Press reporter his name was Capt. William Clark and that he was from Fort Carson, Colo. The fort has no record of the man, said spokeswoman Kim Tisor.

[amigatec]

There was a large article in the Muskogee Phoenix today all about this guy. He is a nut case. He real name is Alan Clark and he is from Missouri. He just got out of prison 6 months ago. He has a LOOOONG history of being a con man. I didn't get to read all of the article and their web site is down. But here is the link anyway http://muskogeephoenix.com/

[sweetliberty]

Would a cell phone work underwater? There was certainly no time before the vehicles went in the river.

[sweetliberty]

This is a pretty mysterious story. Have you heard anything about it? What is your take?

[amigatec]

I live in Muskogee County at the north end. It has been all over the news here. Wife took the paper to work and didn't bring it home. It was a page and a half long article. This guy has done this stuff before.

[amigatec]

Let me add this, my wife also talked to a Oklahoma Highway Patrolmen today, that she knows, and he told her the same story.

[sweetliberty]

It seems that being immersed in water would seriously compromise the computer. I don't know. Could the files still have been accesible?

[sweetliberty]

CIA was my first thought. But in a situation such as this, wouldn't some kind of briefing be given to local or state law enforcement, at least enough to get them to call off their search?

[Prodigal Daughter]

I was wondering that myself about the cellphone. I don't know.

[sweetliberty]

" state medical examiner's office said the cause of death for all but one victim was drowning. U.S. Army Capt. Andrew Clements, 35, died from blunt head trauma"

Unless the condition was a function of the accident, which it could have been, it seems that it most certainly had to have been inflicted subsequent to the the collapse of the bridge...but this doesn't make a lot of sense either.

[sweetliberty]

Both William and Clark are very common names, common enough to be completely unrelated to the list your search turned up.

[swarthyguy]

I dont know but i assume that given enough effort you might be able to retrieve the data. If your purpose was to wipe clean the HD or copy the data(assuming if it could be retrieved) then that's what was done in the 2 hours while Clark has possession of it. If he was doing it for kicks, as a poster said before, then maybe we ought to recruit this guy to be a jihadi spy for us.

[sweetliberty]

"It could just be a personality conflict with the "female" Mayor."

That doesn't explain why Ft. Carsom would have no record of him.

[tubebender]

...try this...Capt. Clements picked up "Capt .Clark" who was hitch hiking and they both were in the van when it went off the bridge. Clements dies but Clark swims free and thinking he could make some money with the puter and brief case tries to scam the mayor but having never seen a puter before splits....OR the dog was driving and...

[sweetliberty]

So are you suggesting that we are dealing with a loose cannon that got an unexpected opportunity, by an incredible coincidence, to do a little role playing, pulled it off to his satisfaction, and then went merrily on his way back to the netherworld?

[amigatec]

No he was run out of town. The OHP ran him off.

[shezza]

...dealing with a loose cannon that got an unexpected opportunity, by an incredible coincidence, to do a little role playing...

Make that an unbelievable coincidence...how would a con-man who stumbled upon the scene (a) have a set of BDUs and accompanying beret ready to go, (b) know Clements by name, that he was an army captain, and had a briefcase and laptop computer that he needed possession of ASAP--even before body was found and identified, (c) be in the mayor's office for two hours (saw that posted above) looking over documents and at the computer before raising enough suspicion to be asked to leave? Doesn't sound like a con, as he's not conning anything out of anyone other than the info on the laptop and in the briefcase (and if it were an army computer loaded with secret or even top-secret info, it would most surely be password-protected--how could a recently released conman crack that code, and why would he want to if he were merely there to get jollies off of portraying a military officer)? It's all a bit sus...

[Justa]

Cutter charges.

[amigatec]

There was a fishing tournament going on at the same time. The fishermen were the first ones on the seen. This is in a remote area, and it is hard to get to. There are a lot of unanswered questions, but the Phoenix has been working a lot of stories on the bridge. The fishermen had already jumped several of the water before anyone got there. The uniform belonged to Alan dad. Alan gave interviews with the local news, and asked that a picture taken of him to be sent to family in Missouri. When the Phoenix contacted the family that is when the story broke. The are the ones that provided the details.