Some local news...

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Published Tuesday, September 18, 2001

Miami Herald

In South Florida

SOUTH FLORIDA

Two held in separate bomb threats

A man whose flight was escorted back to Miami by four Air Force fighters after he mentioned a bomb said in court Monday that he made no threats.

Juan Carlos Riquelme San Martin was charged with threatening to destroy American Airlines Flight 911 bound from Miami to Santiago, Chile, as the jetliner was flying over Cuba early Saturday.

After the alleged threat, the plane's pilot was ordered to turn back, and the F-16 fighters escorted the jet to Miami. No bomb was found.

When U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Brown asked if Riquelme understood the charge against him at his first court appearance, he said through a Spanish interpreter, ``Yes, but I made no threats.''

Riquelme told a flight attendant that he had a bomba in his carry-on bag and told a fellow passenger that he had joked to a flight attendant about a bomb, FBI agent Richard Lunn wrote in a court affidavit.

Riquelme, who has cancer, will return to court Friday for a bond hearing. Prosecutors want him to be jailed until trial.

Meanwhile, a woman was arrested at a security checkpoint at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for allegedly saying she had a bomb in her car, Broward Sheriff's Office said Monday.

Johana Aranguren, 18, of Miami, told deputies Sunday at the airport checkpoint, ``There's a bomb in my glove box.'' When asked again, Aranguren repeated the statement and was taken into custody.

A bomb-sniffing K-9 team was called in to clear the car, a white Ford Mustang, before it was towed. No bombs were found.

Aranguren was charged with making a false report of a bomb, a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. She was being held Monday at the Broward County Jail on $7,500 bond.

FORT PIERCE

6-year-old Davie boy nipped by shark

In Florida's latest shark attack, a 12-year-old Davie boy who chased off a three-footer that bit his 6-year-old brother, then came back for more, says he's no hero.

``The firemen who saved all the people in the twin towers, I would call them heroes,'' sixth-grader Byron Hock said after spending the week watching rescue and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center on television.

Byron's move ended the attack on his brother Cory in knee-deep water at North Jetty State Park on Saturday. The brothers, their father, Gerald, and some friends made the trip to catch some surf kicked up by Tropical Storm Gabrielle.

The boys were riding their boogie boards when Cory fell off and something hit his lower back and buttocks.

Cory had a puncture wound in the small of his back but was able to go home with his family after being treated by paramedics at the beach.

FEDERAL COURT

Nine airport workers on false ID charges

Nine of 12 Latin American illegal aliens charged with using fake alien registration and Social Security cards to get access to restricted areas at Miami International Airport will head back to court Thursday.

The immigrants, who worked as passenger service agents, mechanics, construction workers, cargo handlers and custodians, made an initial appearance in federal court Monday, said Aloyma Sanchez, a spokesman with the U.S. Attorney's office.

But Sanchez said they were rescheduled for later this week because many of the defendants still did not have attorneys.

Sanchez said none of those arrested were connected to last Tuesday's terrorist attack, noting that her office has made similar arrests in the past. In fact, Friday's arrest dates back to 1998, when Operation Ramp Rats first revealed security lapses at MIA.

The 12 airport workers were charged Friday with offering false identification cards and lying to get airport security badges needed to access the runways, cargo bays and baggage clearance areas.

The indictment was issued after three commercial airlines used in terrorist attacks made shoring up lax security at the nation's airports a top priority.

If convicted, they face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

CIRCUIT COURT

Inmate denies plotting to blow up judge

An inmate pleaded innocent Monday to charges that he had plotted from jail to kill the judge who had sentenced him to prison.

Bryant Williams, 39, pleaded innocent to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder for his alleged plot to kill Circuit Court Judge Peter Lopez, who had sentenced him to six years in prison for burglary, assault and aggravated stalking.

Prosecutors charged him last month with asking other Miami-Dade County Jail inmates if they knew anyone who could build bombs he could use to kill Lopez. An informant notified authorities, who say they had an undercover agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent call Williams and meet with him at the jail.

He was charged after his girlfriend allegedly met with the agent and accepted two pipe bombs the ATF had constructed. No trial date has been set.

-- Anonymous, September 19, 2001


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