Fugitive Wanted for Invading Computers Arrested at Market

A fugitive computer hacker indicted on federal charges of invading a classified military computer was captured at a supermarket in Van Nuys after store employees recognized him from a photograph and held him until FBI agents arrived, authorities said Sunday.

Kevin Lee Poulsen, formerly of Menlo Park, was arrested Thursday night at Hughes Market at Burbank and Van Nuys boulevards after evading authorities for more than a year.

Three weeks ago, FBI officials left a photograph of Poulsen with the manager of Hughes Market, where the man had been known to shop, said Brian Bridges, the store’s service manager.

Bridges said he recognized Poulsen at the store two days before his arrest, although Poulsen apparently was trying to disguise himself with glasses and dyed hair. But Poulsen managed to complete his shopping and leave before authorities arrived.

“I passed him in the aisle and said, ‘Oh my God, that’s him!’ ” Bridges said.

When Poulsen returned to the store Thursday night, employees were not taking any chances.

At the first sight of Poulsen, clerk Dave Hernandez grabbed the man and held him until authorities arrived.

In a federal indictment filed in November, 1989, Poulsen was charged with 18 counts of telecommunications and computer-related crimes. His co-defendants, Mark K. Lottor, of Menlo Park, and Robert E. Gilligan, of San Francisco, had surrendered to authorities in 1989, but Poulsen remained at large, FBI officials said.

If convicted, Poulsen faces up to 37 years in prison.

The indictment accuses Poulsen, who was also known by his computer name of “Dark Dante,” of breaking into the Army’s classified MANSET computer network and obtaining plans relating to a 1988 Army exercise in Ft. Bragg, N.C., that had been classified as secret.

While working at SRI International in Menlo Park, Poulsen allegedly stole a printout of the unlisted phone numbers of Ferdinand E. Marcos that was being used by the FBI in its investigation of the late Philippine president.

Poulsen is accused of stealing the unlisted telephone numbers of the Soviet Consulate in San Francisco as well as illegally gaining access to Pacific Bell facilities to steal equipment. He is also charged with possessing stolen computer access codes and stolen telephone credit cards.

Poulsen first gained notoriety in 1983, when, in one of the earliest known computer break-ins, he and a friend penetrated the UCLA computer system and gained access to a university research network.

Poulsen, who was 17 then, was not charged in the incident. He acknowledged his activities, but said he did not know that what he was doing was illegal.