The State - News from Nov. 15, 1987

A jobless stagehand accused of trying to commit air piracy by threatening a pilot with an ax has waived his right to bail in San Francisco, and a federal attorney has revealed that the suspect, who claims that the Mafia was after him, has foreign bank accounts and may not be poor as he has claimed. Assistant U.S. Atty. Ross Nadel said James B. Drake is not destitute and should be granted a court-appointed attorney. Drake held an ax to the head of a pilot in a parked jetliner Nov. 6, and later told the FBI that the Mafia was after him and he wanted to be flown from San Francisco International Airport to London. Agents said Drake, who may be using an alias, surrendered and put down the ax after they promised him protection.