Anyone care to do the Safety Dance with me?
TAMPA - MacDill Air Force Base officials are investigating why security personnel did not stop two teenagers in a stolen car from barreling through the main entrance to one of the nation's most important military installations.
The breach, which occurred early Wednesday morning, has raised questions about how well-protected MacDill is and what further steps might be taken to seal the nearly 5,800-acre base from outsiders.
Tampa police were tracking Davaraye Mungin and Damia Bowie, both 16, as they sped south on Dale Mabry Highway toward MacDill in a 2000 Chrysler Cirrus.
A police dispatcher phoned the base to alert security officials about the speeding car because police and the base do not share a radio frequency.
Police thought the call went through seconds before the vehicle passed through the gate at Dale Mabry Highway, but Air Force 1st Lt. Larry van der Oord, a base spokesman, said the call came after the car was on the base.
Van der Oord said two enlisted members of the 6th Security Forces Squadron were guarding the entrance when the teens plowed through before 3 a.m. Because of the time of day, the gate had been shut down to one lane.
There was no immediate explanation for why the guards did not stop the vehicle. The guards are authorized to use deadly force if the threat warrants such action, van der Oord said.
"There's an investigation to find out what happened," he said. "Any time there's an incident, it's an issue that has to be taken seriously and be looked at very carefully."
The vehicle did not get far, van der Oord said. The pair drove down Boundary Drive to Hangar Loop Drive - roughly two miles - before crashing into two police cruisers near U.S. Central Command's main headquarters building at 2:48 a.m., van der Oord and police said.
Security at MacDill's entry points was being strengthened in response to the incident, van der Oord added.
Mungin and Bowie are charged with felony auto theft and felony auto burglary. Mungin also is charged with fleeing and eluding, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence, police said.
There is more of this story located here but the point is this. Security and all of the Boogey men that this administration has been throwing at us is a JOKE. We are NO safer today than we were 5 years ago. Just think if the people driving that car were say extremists and had a car bomb set to detonate as soon as they hit the grounds of the base instead of joy-riding teenies. Every American should feel like they're watching David Copperfield about now, because ladies and gentlemen, this is an ILLUSION.
The breach, which occurred early Wednesday morning, has raised questions about how well-protected MacDill is and what further steps might be taken to seal the nearly 5,800-acre base from outsiders.
Tampa police were tracking Davaraye Mungin and Damia Bowie, both 16, as they sped south on Dale Mabry Highway toward MacDill in a 2000 Chrysler Cirrus.
A police dispatcher phoned the base to alert security officials about the speeding car because police and the base do not share a radio frequency.
Police thought the call went through seconds before the vehicle passed through the gate at Dale Mabry Highway, but Air Force 1st Lt. Larry van der Oord, a base spokesman, said the call came after the car was on the base.
Van der Oord said two enlisted members of the 6th Security Forces Squadron were guarding the entrance when the teens plowed through before 3 a.m. Because of the time of day, the gate had been shut down to one lane.
There was no immediate explanation for why the guards did not stop the vehicle. The guards are authorized to use deadly force if the threat warrants such action, van der Oord said.
"There's an investigation to find out what happened," he said. "Any time there's an incident, it's an issue that has to be taken seriously and be looked at very carefully."
The vehicle did not get far, van der Oord said. The pair drove down Boundary Drive to Hangar Loop Drive - roughly two miles - before crashing into two police cruisers near U.S. Central Command's main headquarters building at 2:48 a.m., van der Oord and police said.
Security at MacDill's entry points was being strengthened in response to the incident, van der Oord added.
Mungin and Bowie are charged with felony auto theft and felony auto burglary. Mungin also is charged with fleeing and eluding, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence, police said.
There is more of this story located here but the point is this. Security and all of the Boogey men that this administration has been throwing at us is a JOKE. We are NO safer today than we were 5 years ago. Just think if the people driving that car were say extremists and had a car bomb set to detonate as soon as they hit the grounds of the base instead of joy-riding teenies. Every American should feel like they're watching David Copperfield about now, because ladies and gentlemen, this is an ILLUSION.
posted by Bludlust at 2:14 PM
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