Kennedy Bodyguard Arrested
A bodyguard hired to protect Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) on his current trip to Latin America was arrested on weapons charges hours before Kennedy’s plane took off last week.
Charles J. Stein Jr., 47, was arrested Jan. 7 when he asked U.S. Capitol police where he could store his automatic weapons and ammunition while he went to Kennedy’s office, a police spokesman said Tuesday. Despite the arrest, Stein was allowed to accompany Kennedy on the trip, officials said.
Stein, a retired San Fernando, Calif., police captain, had guarded Kennedy on previous trips. He was arrested at the entrance to the Russell Senate Office Building, detained briefly and charged with various handgun violations, said Capitol Police Lt. Jeffrey Zanotti.
A Kennedy spokesman said Stein had a California license for the guns, which included an Israeli-made Uzi and a Beretta automatic, but none for the District of Columbia, which has a strict gun-control law.
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