Seeker of Truth
02-01-2003, 06:40 PM
Source (http://www.dailysentinel.com/news/newsfd/auto/feed/news/2003/02/01/1044143841.01917.1515.8504.html)
Warnings issued about theft of shuttle debris
From staff reports
Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s office, Eastern District of Texas, issued strong warnings Saturday afternoon to those who tamper with or attempt to take debris of the space shuttle Columbia.
United States Attorneys Matthew D. Orwig and Michael Shelby jointly announced that their offices will take “all necessary steps to ensure that the monumental investigative and recovery efforts following the tragic accident are not impaired by the actions of those who seek to obtain pieces of debris,” according to a press release.
While it was widely reported that debris from the accident could hazardous, and contact with that debris should be avoided, people should also be aware that it is a federal offense to “knowingly and without authority remove, conceal or withhold a part of the civil aircraft involved in an accident or property on the aircraft at the time of the accident ...” A conviction is punishable by imprisonment up to 10 years and a $250,000 fine.
As news that shuttle debris was being found scattered within the city of Nacogdoches and across the county, law enforcement officers found themselves dealing with not only securing and verifying debris, but also keeping people from taking the debris.
Dr. Paul Risk, professor of forestry at SFA and a volunteer with the local Skywarn organization, which was assisting officers in their attempts to document and secure the debris, witnessed one such incident the U.S. Attorney’s office warned against.
Risk said a group of five to six people were watching over what appeared to a PC board found in the passing lane in the intersection of Martinsville Road and University Drive when a woman in a 2000 blue Volkswagen stopped, jumped out of her car wearing a while plastic bag over her hand, scooped up the debris and began walking away.
Warnings issued about theft of shuttle debris
From staff reports
Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s office, Eastern District of Texas, issued strong warnings Saturday afternoon to those who tamper with or attempt to take debris of the space shuttle Columbia.
United States Attorneys Matthew D. Orwig and Michael Shelby jointly announced that their offices will take “all necessary steps to ensure that the monumental investigative and recovery efforts following the tragic accident are not impaired by the actions of those who seek to obtain pieces of debris,” according to a press release.
While it was widely reported that debris from the accident could hazardous, and contact with that debris should be avoided, people should also be aware that it is a federal offense to “knowingly and without authority remove, conceal or withhold a part of the civil aircraft involved in an accident or property on the aircraft at the time of the accident ...” A conviction is punishable by imprisonment up to 10 years and a $250,000 fine.
As news that shuttle debris was being found scattered within the city of Nacogdoches and across the county, law enforcement officers found themselves dealing with not only securing and verifying debris, but also keeping people from taking the debris.
Dr. Paul Risk, professor of forestry at SFA and a volunteer with the local Skywarn organization, which was assisting officers in their attempts to document and secure the debris, witnessed one such incident the U.S. Attorney’s office warned against.
Risk said a group of five to six people were watching over what appeared to a PC board found in the passing lane in the intersection of Martinsville Road and University Drive when a woman in a 2000 blue Volkswagen stopped, jumped out of her car wearing a while plastic bag over her hand, scooped up the debris and began walking away.