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Monday, April 28, 1997

Dumped shipment caused nationwide search

By TERRI LANGFORD Associated Press

BEAUMONT - Not much in this world belongs to Ronald Dean Coy.

He left his wife months ago, drained their bank account and maxed out his credit cards. Even the Kentworth tractor-trailer rig he was driving was $50,000 away from being his own, according to federal documents released Saturday.

The Ohio truck driver was arrested Friday near the Texas-Louisiana border after ditching four unarmed Air Force missiles in Ranger. The disappearance of the shipment and the driver sparked a nationwide search by the FBI.

The events began unfolding last Monday when Cheetah Trucking Co. of Mooresville, N.C. refused to advance him $500, the records say. Coy was three days late on the delivery. They had advanced him $750 just a few days before for truck repairs.

Coy waited a few more days.

Then, last Thursday, now six days late, Coy dumped the shipment, the documents say. Whether he knew it or not, he had been hauling four dummy missiles worth a total of $600,000 plus another $400,000 worth of Boeing packaging.

He stored the Boeing cargo in a shed in Ranger, collected a $500 advance from another company then skipped out on the assignment and steered the Kentworth southeast.

On Friday, after driving 300 miles, he stopped for a nap on the Texas-Louisiana line. His slumber was interrupted by the FBI knocking on his cab door, ending their nationwide search.

If the $115,000 debt he was shouldering wasn't enough, Coy now faced serious trouble.

On Saturday, a U.S. magistrate determined there was probable cause to keep Coy locked up in Beaumont until a Tuesday hearing could be held on how to get him back to Georgia.

He is scheduled to appear, with a court-appointed attorney, before U.S. Magistrate Wendell Radford in Beaumont at 10:30 a.m.

"We have no indication that he was part of any conspiracy," said U.S. Attorney Mike Bradford.

In Atlanta's federal district, the FBI is pushing for two charges.

The first is wire fraud. An affidavit, released Saturday, indicates Coy was nowhere near Abilene - as he told Cheetah Trucking Co. - and was instead in Conley Ga. when he said he needed $750 for truck repairs.

The second, according to the FBI affidavit, stems from the theft from Cheetah of the four missiles.

Dressed in green Jefferson County Jail coveralls, the 42-year-old shook his head in apparent disbelief Saturday as he listened to the complaint against him.

"I have nothing to hide," Coy said. "Let's go forward."

Coy, who said he had only $137.44 to his name, was ordered held without bond until Tuesday, in the Jefferson County Jail.

There was no answer Sunday at Cheetah's Mooresville, N.C. office. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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