"Man arrested at Indiana airport says he felt 'badgered'"

Saturday, March 15, 2003

Man arrested at airport says he felt 'badgered'
By BYRON ROHRIG
The Evansville (IN) Courier & Press


EVANSVILLE -- A man arrested at Evansville Regional Airport on Wednesday
after a run-in with an Indiana state trooper admitted he should have kept
his temper in check, but said he felt "badgered" and "antagonized" by
security officers.

"I fly all over the United States, and there's no worse airport to fly out
of than Evansville Regional," said Randall D. Findlay, a 45-year-old
engineer. An airport spokesman said federal airport scanners and baggage
inspectors are uniformly trained nationwide, and that the off-duty state
troopers who work airport security receive the same Indiana State Police
Academy training as any sworn state officers.

Findlay is lead structural civil engineer in a $660 million air
pollution-control project at Cinergy's Gibson Station in western Gibson
County, Ind. He was attempting to join other project engineers on a flight
to Cincinnati Wednesday afternoon when he was arrested.

"I was not trying to hang on to a knife," Findlay said Friday, disputing an
account of events by a state police official.

U.S. Transportation Security Administration scanners found a small pocket
knife in Findlay's possession when he went through airport security about 3
p.m. Wednesday. Bob Taylor, commander of the Indiana State Police post at
Evansville, said Thursday that Findlay became irate when officials wouldn't
allow him to board with the knife.

Findlay said he hadn't seen the knife, with what he estimated to be a 2
1/4-inch blade, for at least six months before an airport scanner found it
under a flap inside a padded computer briefcase.

"I mentioned to the scanner that I'd probably flown out of (Evansville
Regional) two or three times since the knife has been missing, and nobody
had caught it. It was just a comment -- I did not mean anything
antagonistic," said Findlay.

Findlay said the scanner placed the knife in an envelope and said he could
reclaim it when he returned, then went to a security officer. The officer
came to talk with Findlay and "quizzed" him about the knife, he said.

According to Findlay, the officer left, then returned and instructed Findlay
to get his bags and accompany her outside of the security area.

Findlay said the officer, who identified herself as a state trooper, "got
real close to me and started recounting the obvious, saying things like,
'You're not allowed to have a knife on the plane: Why'd you do that?'"
Findlay said he told the officer he resented her "continuing to badger me"
when he'd already answered her questions.

Findlay admitted he really became agitated when he attempted to re-enter the
nearby security area and was told he had to be screened again. Findlay said
the eventual arresting officer, Trooper Scott Qualls, approached him then.
"As soon as I put my bags up on the deal, he came up as if he was some drill
sergeant, tapping on my chest and saying, 'If you don't calm down, you're
going to be arrested.' He was extremely offensive in his posture -- he
backed me up against the wall where I had nowhere to go." At that point, "I
pushed him back," said Findlay, who said he is 6-3 and weighs 220 pounds. He
described himself as being about the same size as Qualls.

Qualls arrested Findlay and booked him into Vanderburgh County Jail for
disorderly conduct, resisting law enforcement and battery on a police
officer. He is free on bond and is scheduled to appear again in Misdemeanor
Court on March 27.

Nelson Bailes, airport spokesman, said federal scanners "are hired by the
Transportation Security Administration and receive the same training as
their personnel in every airport in the nation," and that state police who
work airport security are trained the same as any state troopers.

"They're all thoroughly trained in dealing with the public. I'm holding a
letter right now from passengers telling me how nice security people were to
them when they came through Evansville," said Bailes.

Bailes said he didn't witness Findlay's incident.

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