FBI investigates Army imposter (re: interstate bridge collapse)

News Oklahoma ^ | June 5, 2002 | AP

[amigatec]

Correction The fishermen had already jumped into the water and saved several of the people 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.

[amigatec]

All of the big news people have already left, it is covered by the local ones now.

[amigatec]

The briefcase and laptop were found in the water, by the fishermen. Also the Army Captain was the first one mentioned before his body was even found. They KNEW he was in the water.

[Z-28]

Was this army guy wearing a black suit and sunglasses?

This is weird.

[amigatec]

Just like the 3 year old, they found her shoes days before they found her. They KNEW there was a baby down there. This was on the news in the first couple of days. Man Muskogee county has had a front row seat to all of this. It was Muskogee county that as working this. The Tug Driver was at the Muskogee Hospital.

[Z-28]

I have only heard it reported once, but I believe on CNN they first reported that this barge had also hit and almost knocked down the previous highway river bridge too.

How can hitting two bridges miles apart be an accident?

[amigatec]

Was this army guy wearing a black suit and sunglasses?

Nope BDU's and a green beret. He even had polish on his boots.

[amigatec]

I have only heard it reported once, but I believe on CNN they first reported that this barge had also hit and almost knocked down the previous highway river bridge too. How can hitting two bridges miles apart be an accident?

No the other bridge was hit a short time back. These two events are not related. Also the first suit was filed 2 days ago. And just today they had to stop tearing the bridge down due to a court order.

[Z-28]

The TV reporter I heard definately said THIS barge/tug had hit two (2) bridges, knocking down the second one and damaging the first. Doesn't mean he wasn't misinformed though. But that's what I heard.

The US Army called them camo "fatigues" when I was in.

[amigatec]

The TV reporter I heard definately said THIS barge/tug had hit two (2) bridges, knocking down the second one and damaging the first. Doesn't mean he wasn't misinformed though. But that's what I heard. The US Army called them camo "fatigues" when I was in.

NTSB had a news confernce and said that the two bridges that were damaged were not related, also ODOT agreed with that.

On the local news it shows a man in BDU's Alan Cox's dad IS in the army, that is were he got the Uniform from.

[thinden]

check 34

[thinden]

check 63

[wku man]

It's been rumored that the military has been using implanted transponders for years in special personnel (nuke sub crewmen, Spec Ops, etc.). Maybe chemical warfare types, too? Maybe there's some truth to the rumors? Okay y'all...feel free to make tin foil references.

Scouts OUt! Cavalry Ho!

[swarthyguy]

The Digital Angel is now being sold to civilians to to monitor dogs, children and HMO patients. Of course, why would the military ever use it?

[CJ Wolf]

they found him. Fake Green Beret Nabbed

OWEN SOUND, Ontario (Reuters) - An American man, who allegedly claimed to be in the U.S. military's special forces and directed rescue operations after the collapse of an Oklahoma bridge last month, likely faces extradition to the United States, Canadian police said on Monday.

William Clark, 29, is wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for fraud and larceny after reportedly showing up at the May 26 bridge collapse, which killed 14 people. Clark allegedly took charge of rescue operations, telling local police he was a special forces captain. He was arrested on Sunday while waiting for a ferry in western Ontario.

"The criminal investigation section will be working with Canadian and U.S. officials on a process to return him," said Staff Sgt. Don Hillman of the Ontario Provincial Police.

Clark, from Tallapoosa, Missouri, showed up two hours after the bridge collapsed clad in army fatigues and a green beret. He stayed for two days and then disappeared. During his stay, police allege he got free food, lodging and a pickup truck.

Newspaper reports said emergency workers got suspicious about Clark even as they followed his orders.

"'Captain Clark' had a substantial paunch for a special forces soldier and a habit of racing an all-terrain vehicle up and down the riverfront near a boat ramp used to embark on rescue missions," according to a report in one Canadian newspaper.

Fourteen people were killed when their cars plunged off a highway bridge that collapsed after being struck by a barge in Webbers Falls, Oklahoma.

At least 17 vehicles plunged 100 feet (30 meters) from the bridge when two connected barges, guided by a tug, struck the span, knocking down a 500-foot (150-meter) section.

The vehicles slammed into one another, forming a mangled pile of metal in the rain-swollen Arkansas River.

Clark, who was wearing army fatigues and had a loaded rifle in the pickup truck when he was arrested, was denied bail at a court appearance on Monday. He will next be in court on June 17.

In Canada, he faces weapons and immigration charges as well as possession of property obtained by crime, Hillman said.

[Rudolfo]

I am sorry for posting something so late, but this will make you sick when you read it. I could not find anyplace to to tell anybody. The 'Army' officer was looking for a steer-master control unit. A steer-master is a tiny, unmanned, FM radio controlled steering unit that is attached to the lead barge to help keep control in and around rivers and in strong currents. Tiny is not really a proper word but we are talking ships here. They were normally (when I was working in a shipyard a number of years ago) powered by a 12 cylinder 12V892 Detroit two cycle diesel, mounted straight up and down. There are many different various models with differing engines and layouts so I will stick with the ones I worked on. They steer by swinging like a huge outboard. Other models use rudders. The ones I worked on weighed about twenty tons.Normally the push-boat Captain cannot see it so poles with orange flags are usually mounted to give some aid in seeing what is going on. The control unit sits on the dash and has a little stick poking out to steer with. A skilled Captain uses the steer-master to drag the barges back and forth along with steering the tug itself. The control box uses FM radio signals to send commands to the steer-master. Each steermaster has its own frequency to allow several steer-masters to operate close together without interfering with each others control. If you wanted to take control of a string of barges and crash them you would need to have a similar control unit, on the same frequency, and be close enough to capture the receiver away from the push-boat. If you didn't have more watts then you would have to be closer to the receiver than the tug. As the barge draws closer to the causeway you would take control at the last possible moment before the Captain would have time to react or even realize there was a problem. You would be a little too close to get away from a disaster that resulted much larger than you were planning on.Have the barge companies taken any steps to prevent this from happening again? George Herbert Walker Boosh owns Hollywood Shipping, which has more barges and push-boats than anyone else. It is the largest shipping company in the world. Sorry for a late post on this and maybe somebody will let some tugboat Captain know these things.