- ERWIN - Two Israeli nationals
held here without bond in the Unicoi County Jail will appear in Unicoi
County General Sessions Court this morning, Sheriff Kent Harris said Sunday.
Harris said the FBI ordered him to hold the duo without bond pending an
investigation following a high speed chase through a remote area of Unicoi
County Saturday afternoon in which the pair reportedly threw several items
out of a rented Ryder truck, Harris said.
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- "They ignored my blue lights for two and one half
miles and they were traveling 20 miles an hour over posted speed limits,"
he said. One man's passport had expired and the other had a fake identification
card, the sheriff said. By Sunday morning, Harris had identified the man
who refused to give his first name as Almaliach Naor who was in the company
of Shnuel Daran, 22, both from Israel and living in Miami, Fla. "Our
investigation has revealed they were on their way to Boston, Massachusetts,"
Harris said. "Also, a vial of an unknown substance appears to be some
kind of accelerant because when shook, it becomes warm," he said.
"I enlisted Ed Herndon, our homeland security officer, and the Tennessee
Highway Patrol to run (preliminary) tests and the FBI has asked we package
the vial up and send it to a crime lab. which we are inthe process of doing."
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- A combing of the confiscated Ryder Truck "produced
an odor of a liquid on a side panel of some kind that we will also send
to the lab," Harris said. "Other than that, the truck was clean,"
he said. Harris said his department worked through the night on Saturday
positively identifying Naor and working with Interpol officials who late
last night told the sheriff the two were not on any international wanted
lists. Harris said the men entered the United States from Israel in January.
It was not known what type of visas they were granted. Harris said Naor
told FBI agents he was carrying a fake identification card to "get
into clubs in Miami." The sheriff declined to answer other questions
concerning the investigation that is ongoing. Records at Unicoi County
jail indicated Naor and Daran will face charges today on counts of criminal
impersonation, reckless driving and lying to authorities about throwing
items out of the truck, which they rented a short distance away in Mars
Hill, N.C. Harris said the men told authorities they were moving furniture.
Following their arrest Saturday afternoon, the sheriff said he "had
a sick feeling" when he found a "Learn to Fly" brochure
in the truck, especially since the county is home to the Nuclear Fuel Services
plant not far from downtown Erwin.
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- "This is still a very suspicious case," Harris
said Sunday as he reiterated the comment he made Saturday concerning the
matter: "We're living in a very different time. We all need to be
vigilant when it comes to homeland security."
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