Fresno man arrested after unauthorized Nellis entry

By Mary Manning

Published Friday, Jan. 16, 2009 | 2:22 p.m.

Updated Friday, Jan. 16, 2009 | 4:48 p.m.

The FBI arrested 30-year-old Anhwar Telly Young of Fresno, Calif., after he drove a U-Haul truck Thursday into Nellis Air Force Base without authorization, officials said today.

Young has no criminal record in Fresno, FBI spokesman David Staretz said. He is being charged with interfering with interstate commerce and trespassing.

It is still not known how Young got through a security checkpoint at the north gate of the Air Force base, Staretz said. Nellis security guards surrounded the U-Haul after Young parked near the Thunderbird hangar.

The air base was locked down at about 1:40 p.m. so no vehicles could enter or exit the base.

Young sat in the truck and wrote a note to base security guards, telling them he had an explosive device in the truck, Staretz said.

As the U-Haul approached the security checkpoint, guards noticed that Young was holding a towel over the lower half of his face, as if he did not want to be recognized, said Capt. Amanda Ferrell, chief of current operations in the Nellis public affairs office.

Young then sped up and shot through the gate before metal security bars became activated to stop him, Ferrell said.

The truck careened toward the security forces building then swerved and parked near the Thunderbird hangar, Ferrell said.

The license plates on the U-Haul did not belong to the truck, but came from Arizona, Ferrell said.

Since 2004 Nellis has contracted security forces posted at the gate through TW & Company, based in Washington, D.C., Ferrell said. Fifty percent of the hired guards have military backgrounds, she said.

Nellis is investigating how the truck got through the checkpoint, but Ferrell said many people visiting the base, 12 miles northeast of downtown Las Vegas, are civilians.

Nellis commander Col. David Belote said no one was hurt and nothing was discovered inside the truck. There were no other people in the cab or van.

Young was taken to the North Las Vegas Jail, then moved by U.S. Marshals to another facility. Authorities don't know his motive.

"Who knows why he did it?" Staretz said.