Trucker Abandons 4 Dummy Missiles

A truck driver abandoned four dummy Air Force missiles after he ran out of money and his bosses refused to send him more cash, it was reported Saturday.

Ronald Coy of Middletown, Ohio, was arrested at a truck stop Friday in Orange, Texas, near the Louisiana state line, FBI agent Robert Loosle said. The bombs were found at a lumber yard 300 miles away, in Ranger, 110 miles west of Dallas.

The Houston Chronicle, citing sources familiar with the search, said Coy spent all his cash, then called his contractor, Cheetah Transportation Co. in Colorado Springs, Colo., seeking more money.

He dropped the cargo when the company refused, apparently unaware of what he was hauling and hoping to find another load elsewhere.

“It wasn’t a sinister plot,” a source told the newspaper. “It was just goofball.”

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The Air Force said the TGM-130 guided missiles weren’t equipped with working warheads or explosives and posed no risk to the public.

The devices, each worth about $150,000, carry infrared and laser guidance equipment allowing pilots to fly attack patterns and get computerized data.

“We believe the crates are still sealed and intact,” Air Force spokesman Maj. Rob Koon said.

The containers, marked “transformer,” were left at the fenced-in yard Wednesday, Ranger Police Chief Don Enix said.

“The truck driver told them he had bald tires and that the floor of his trailer had some problems, so he had to get that fixed.”

The missiles had been picked up at a Boeing Co. plant in Duluth, Ga., and were supposed to be taken to Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, N.M.

The search began this week after the shipment never showed up.

Authorities had said the vehicle had a tracking beacon and was being monitored by satellite until it vanished from computer screens Thursday. Loosle told the Chronicle that wasn’t the case--it had no tracking system.

The Army’s Military Traffic Management Command requires contractors carrying sensitive equipment to have two drivers for each truck, which must be equipped with satellite monitors. It was not known if Coy had another driver with him.

The Middletown (Ohio) Journal reported that Barbara Coy, the driver’s wife, filed a missing persons report Jan. 11 on Coy. In the report, she said he took $17,000 in cash advances from their credit card account.

“I had to take a second job to pay my rent,” she said. “He financially ruined me.”

Coy’s commercial driver’s license was suspended indefinitely in March because of an unspecified violation in another state, the Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles said.

Coy also was named in January as a suspect in a theft case reported by SOS Transport Inc. of Monroe, Ohio, said Monroe Police Capt. Tom Bishop.