Saturday, May 31, 2003
A 21-year-old rookie cop stumbles across a drunken hillbilly "terrorist" and John Ashcroft takes a victory lap...
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In a quiet end to one of the most intense manhunts in the nation's history, Eric Rudolph, the fugitive charged with the fatal bombing at the 1996 Olympics, was arrested by a rookie police officer as he lurked behind a store in a remote mountain town in western North Carolina.
Federal authorities said Rudolph appeared to be homeless when Officer J. S. Postell, 21, confronted him in the small town of Murphy, N.C. about 4:30 a.m. Worried that he might try to break into a business, Postell arrested him. "I did not have a clue" who he was, Postell said.
"This sends a clear message that we will never cease in our efforts to hunt down all terrorists, foreign or domestic, and stop them from harming the innocent," Attorney General John Ashcroft said in a statement."
posted at 2:48 PM