2 AF Policemen Charged in Theft of Jet Engines

Two Air Force policemen were charged with stealing three F-16 aircraft engines, authorities said Tuesday, and 12 other people were indicted in a sting in which FBI agents ran a military surplus store dealing in stolen property.

Agents have identified up to 100 suspects, some military policemen, at Hill Air Force Base, other Utah installations and 15 other communities in the West and Southwest, said Robert Bryant, agent in charge of the FBI’s Utah office.

The indictments remained sealed in federal court, and the names of those charged were not released.

Many MPs Involved

“The thefts at Hill . . . appear to be part of a larger problem involving other states and other military establishments,” U.S. Atty. Dee Benson said. “Unfortunately, many of the participants are military policemen, and we find that especially disturbing.”

Benson identified the two men arrested at a Bountiful restaurant Monday night as Airman 1st Class Brian Roth of Chesterland, Ohio, and Senior Airman Danny Joe Stroud of Newton, Kan. Benson said he expected “many more” arrests.

Operation Punchout, a joint effort of the FBI, the Defense Department and the Air Force, began in 1986, when stolen military goods became increasingly available in the Salt Lake Valley, Bryant said. It targeted military and civilian personnel as well as wholesalers of stolen goods, he said.

FBI Ran Surplus Store

The FBI established a storefront in Roy near the base called Military Surplus Brokers, which spent about $80,000 to buy thousands of items worth about $600,000 that were stolen from all branches of the military, Bryant said.

Benson said the stolen military equipment included sleeping bags, helmets, canteens, munitions and firearms, as well as the jet engines, although no military systems or strategic weapons were involved.

He said Roth and Stroud had approached undercover officers with an offer to sell the jet fighter engines. The two were given a down payment of $10,000 toward a purchase price of $300,000 for the three engines, which are valued at $2 million each.

The two men brought the Pratt & Whitney engines, which had been reported missing last Wednesday by maintenance personnel, to the FBI agents by trailer. Both were charged with theft of government property and conspiracy.