THE PAPAL VISIT : Man With Gun Arrested Near Miami Altar

A 53-year-old construction worker planting greenery around the altar where Pope John Paul II will celebrate Mass was arrested Thursday afternoon for allegedly carrying a concealed revolver and hunting knife, authorities said.

But officials later said they did not believe that the incident was related to the Pope’s visit. Walter Bacon of Hinesville, Ga., was taken into custody after an officer supervising the Tamiami Park papal Mass site discovered that he was carrying a handgun, Metro-Dade police said.

The investigation was turned over to the Secret Service, which had no immediate comment on Bacon’s motive.

Bacon was employed by Edward J. Gerrits Construction Co., the firm that built the altar and is responsible for preparation of the site where the Pope will celebrate Mass today, through a labor pool known as Tracy Labor, Sgt. Lou Diecidue said.

Melody Treadway, an eight-year veteran of the Metro-Dade Police Department, became suspicious Diecidue said, when she noticed that Bacon was wearing a long-sleeved shirt with a T-shirt underneath.

“Considering it was 97 degrees out there, it seemed unusual. As he bent over to plant something, she noticed a bulge around his waist and immediately reached over and patted him down,” she said.

What Treadway found, authorities said, was a loaded .22-caliber nine-shot revolver tucked in Bacon’s waistband and a five-inch hunting knife in a sheath strapped around his waist.