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Transmission Tampering Suspect Caught
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A man sought by the FBI for allegedly
loosening bolts on a high voltage power line tower in Northern
California was arrested Sunday when he walked into a California
Highway Patrol office looking for directions.
Michael Devlyn Poulin said his action was intended to highlight
domestic insecurity, and that he had been trying to surrender.
He was arrested in South Sacramento after a CHP employee
recognized him from a wanted poster, said patrol spokesman Tom
Marshall.
"I wish they were all this easy," Marshall said. Poulin said
he was looking for directions to the FBI office in Sacramento and
did not resist arrest, Marshall said.
In a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Sunday
morning, before his arrest, Poulin said he meant to highlight lack
of security for America's power infrastructure by loosening and
removing bolts at eight towers in four states.
Poulin, 62, of Spokane, Washington, said he had intended to turn
himself in to the FBI Sunday afternoon.
He said he'd grown tired of dodging the law. "I'm sort of
getting a stiff neck from looking over my shoulder," Poulin said.
He said he'd been trying to arrange his surrender for two weeks,
but authorities gave him too few details about the legal
circumstances that awaited him.
"The attorney general, because this covers any number of
jurisdictions, refuses to tell me what I'm facing," Poulin said.
"Because the threat of a terrorism charge hangs over me, I could
end up in Guantanamo Bay," the facility where the United States is
holding terror suspects.
A federal arrest warrant issued last month charges Poulin with
damaging an energy facility.
Poulin is accused of removing and loosening bolts from the legs
of a high voltage transmission tower near Anderson on Oct. 20.
Bolts also have been loosened or removed from the legs of other
transmission towers near Sacramento; Benton City, Washington; and
the Oregon cities of Madras, McNary, Klamath Falls and The Dalles.
Calls placed to Poulin's Eugene, Oregon-based attorney, Dan
Koenig, were not immediately returned.
FBI agent Norm Brown, in Spokane, Washington, confirmed Sunday
that Poulin has a criminal history. Poulin was sentenced to life in
prison in the early 1970s for attempted murder, but only served
eight years, Brown said.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
loosening bolts on a high voltage power line tower in Northern
California was arrested Sunday when he walked into a California
Highway Patrol office looking for directions.
Michael Devlyn Poulin said his action was intended to highlight
domestic insecurity, and that he had been trying to surrender.
He was arrested in South Sacramento after a CHP employee
recognized him from a wanted poster, said patrol spokesman Tom
Marshall.
"I wish they were all this easy," Marshall said. Poulin said
he was looking for directions to the FBI office in Sacramento and
did not resist arrest, Marshall said.
In a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Sunday
morning, before his arrest, Poulin said he meant to highlight lack
of security for America's power infrastructure by loosening and
removing bolts at eight towers in four states.
Poulin, 62, of Spokane, Washington, said he had intended to turn
himself in to the FBI Sunday afternoon.
He said he'd grown tired of dodging the law. "I'm sort of
getting a stiff neck from looking over my shoulder," Poulin said.
He said he'd been trying to arrange his surrender for two weeks,
but authorities gave him too few details about the legal
circumstances that awaited him.
"The attorney general, because this covers any number of
jurisdictions, refuses to tell me what I'm facing," Poulin said.
"Because the threat of a terrorism charge hangs over me, I could
end up in Guantanamo Bay," the facility where the United States is
holding terror suspects.
A federal arrest warrant issued last month charges Poulin with
damaging an energy facility.
Poulin is accused of removing and loosening bolts from the legs
of a high voltage transmission tower near Anderson on Oct. 20.
Bolts also have been loosened or removed from the legs of other
transmission towers near Sacramento; Benton City, Washington; and
the Oregon cities of Madras, McNary, Klamath Falls and The Dalles.
Calls placed to Poulin's Eugene, Oregon-based attorney, Dan
Koenig, were not immediately returned.
FBI agent Norm Brown, in Spokane, Washington, confirmed Sunday
that Poulin has a criminal history. Poulin was sentenced to life in
prison in the early 1970s for attempted murder, but only served
eight years, Brown said.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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