"Ex-airport employee accused"

Friday, August 8, 2003 

Ex-airport employee accused
By Kathy Bushouse
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel 


BOCA RATON . There will be additional security at the Boca Raton Airport
offices after police said a former employee trespassed this week and trashed
the airport manager's parking sign.

The Boca Raton Airport Authority voted Wednesday to add an armed guard to
its security force after witnesses told police that former airport
facilities manager Don Currie drove a black Ford Expedition into the
airport's hangar area Tuesday night, went into the airport parking lot and
dislodged a reserved parking space sign for airport manager Ken Day. Currie
then threw the sign in the garbage, police said.

Authority members considered the incident an aggressive act against Day and
agreed to pursue misdemeanor charges of trespassing and vandalism against
Currie. Security was beefed up, officials said, to guard against any future
acts. 

Tuesday's incident is the second time in less than a year that police have
investigated Currie's actions at the airport. He was arrested Nov. 21, along
with former airport maintenance contractor James Esco and former airport
security contractor Andrew Novotak. The three were charged with unlawful
discharge of a firearm after witnesses reported hearing shots fired near the
airport. Currie also was charged with drunken driving.

Boca Raton Police spokesman Jeff Kelly said the department is investigating
Tuesday's incident. The security guard will be in addition to unarmed guards
from Navarro Security Group of Fort Lauderdale. 

A Boca Aviation employee spotted Currie driving past one of the airport's
hangars, according to police reports. The witness said Currie then stopped
near the runway for about three or four minutes, then drove out of the
runway area.

Currie then pulled into the airport parking lot, where spaces are reserved
for the Airport Authority's employees, and witnesses heard "several loud
metallic clanks," according to the report. They reported seeing Currie take
Day's reserved-parking sign and throw it in the trash.

Officials said it's possible Currie used an old access card to get into the
restricted area near the airport's runway.

Should prosecutors decide to charge Currie, it would jeopardize his
probation agreement from last year's case and could mean jail time, said
Palm Beach County State Attorney's spokesman Mike Edmondson. Currie got six
months' probation after pleading guilty to reckless driving and discharging
a firearm. In addition to probation, Currie had to complete driving school,
perform 50 hours of community service and pay court costs.

Alan Kauffman, Currie's attorney, said he thought the Airport Authority
showed a lack of compassion in its actions against Currie, who received high
marks in his evaluations before being fired after last year's incident.

"I'm still bewildered how a group can be with a man for 15 years ... and one
transgression, they take away his job and in essence destroy his
self-esteem," Kauffman said. 

Currie could not be reached Thursday.


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