http://www.todayonline.com/World/EDC120724-0000098/US-sub-worker-set-fire-so-he-could-leave-early--US-Navy
The USS Miami was in dry dock at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, for an overhaul when the fire damaged the torpedo room and command area inside the forward compartment. It took more than 12 hours to extinguish.
A second fire was reported June 16 on the dry dock cradle on which the Miami rests, but there was no damage and no injuries.
Casey James Fury, 24, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who was working on the sub as a painter and sandblaster, initially denied starting the fires but eventually acknowledged his involvement, the affidavit states.
He admitted setting the May 23 fire, which caused an estimated US$400 million in damage, while taking a lie-detector test and being told by the examiner he was not being truthful.
Fury told Mr Timothy Bailey, an agent for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, that "his anxiety started getting really bad", so he grabbed his cigarettes and a lighter, walked up to a bunk room and set fire to some rags on the top bunk.
The Navy originally said the fire started when an industrial vacuum cleaner sucked up a heat source that ignited debris inside.
Fury said he set the second fire after getting anxious over a text-message exchange with an ex-girlfriend about a man she had started seeing, according to the affidavit. He wanted to leave work early, so he took some alcohol wipes and set them on fire outside the submarine.
Fury said he initially lied about setting the fires "because he was scared and because everything was blurry to him and his memory was impacted due to his anxiety and the medication he was taking at the time", according to the affidavit.
If convicted of either charge, Fury could face life imprisonment and a fine of up to US$250,000 and be ordered to pay restitution, officials said.
No comments:
Post a Comment