Driver Who Dumped Missiles Is Charged

A debt-ridden truck driver apparently dumped a shipment of four unarmed Air Force missiles in Texas after his company refused to give him a $500 advance, according to FBI documents released Saturday.

Ronald D. Coy was arrested Friday at a truck stop in Orange, Texas, several hours after the $1-million missile shipment was found 300 miles away in Ranger.

Coy, 42, of Middletown, Ohio, shook his head in disbelief at a hearing Saturday when he was told he was being charged with wire fraud. He was held without bond.

Coy, who is $115,000 in debt, tried to con his trucking company out of cash advances on the road, an FBI affidavit said.

The wire-fraud charge stems from phone conversations Coy had with his employer and has nothing to do with the armaments, which the Air Force said were not explosive and posed no risk to the public.

The devices are worth $150,000 each, but with packaging have an overall value of $1 million, the affidavit said.

“We have no indication that he was part of any conspiracy,” U.S. Atty. Mike Bradford said Saturday. Bradford declined to say whether Coy knew he was hauling missiles.

Cheetah Trucking Co. gave Coy $500 in expense money April 14 and sent him to pick up the armaments at a Boeing plant in Duluth, Ga. He was to deliver the cargo to Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico four days later. Coy never reached New Mexico.

According to the affidavit, Coy called Cheetah from Georgia on April 18, said his rig had broken down in Texas and asked for a $750 advance for repairs. The company complied.

On Monday, Coy sought a $500 advance on the telephone from Rayville, La. This time, the company refused, the affidavit said.

On Wednesday, Coy arranged to make a pickup for a Weatherford, Texas, company and accepted a $500 advance from that firm Thursday. Instead of making the New Mexico delivery, he dumped the missile cargo in Ranger, then called Cheetah the next day and told the company where to find it.

Authorities initially said the vehicle was being monitored by satellite until it vanished from computer screens Thursday. Standard military practice is to place tracking equipment on trucks carrying weapons and other sensitive equipment. But Friday, FBI Agent Robert Loosle said the truck had no tracking system.