Arrests, But No Threat to Water at Reservoir

ByABC News
May 20, 2002, 1:19 PM

— -- Conn. Reservoir Scare Passes

E A S T O N, Conn., May 17 It was tourism, not terrorism, behindsuspicious activity at the Easton Reservoir that led to the arrestsof three men for trespassing. Police got a call about 7:30 p.m. Thursday that three men whoappeared to be of Middle Eastern ancestry were on top of a watersupply tank with a video camera. Local police arrested the three men as they left the area in acar. Easton police then notified the FBI and state emergencyresponse officials. As it turned out, the three men are cousins from the Bridgeportarea who had recently bought a new digital video camera and werepassing by the reservoir, according to Michael J. Wolf, the top FBIagent in Connecticut. "They drove by the reservoir, they saw the reservoir. It wasbeautiful scenery. They had just acquired the camera and they werevideotaping," Wolf said. Easton Police Chief John F. Solomon said today that authoritiesacted properly. "I'm completely convinced we made the right moves when we madethe arrests last night. Notifying state and federal officials isthe thing we do in these days following Sept. 11," he said. The three men were identified as Juned Ahmed Choudhury, 21, andHassan Choudhury, 19, both of Bridgeport; and Redwander Chowdhury,19, of Fairfield. The three were released on their own recognizance and scheduledto return to court June 5. Wolf said the FBI is confident there was no act of terrorism. Healso said officials responded as they should have. "Everything was done by the book," Wolf said. State officials said testing of the water supply found nocontamination.

The Associated Press

Flight Attendant Indicted for Alleged Bomb ThreatsO R L A N D O, Fla., May 17 A federal grand jury indicted a Frenchflight attendant for allegedly writing bomb threats aboard aLondon-to-Orlando flight, prompting a precautionary landing inIceland. Michael Philippe, 25, was indicted Thursday on charges ofthreatening to use a weapon of mass destruction against U.S.nationals, communicating false information, intimidating flightcrew members and making a false statement to the FBI.