Nevada soldier detained after ammo found in luggage - Breaking News

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Jun. 19, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Nevada soldier detained after ammo found in luggage

By KEITH ROGERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Police at Indianapolis International Airport detained a Nevada Army National Guard soldier for about three hours today after baggage inspectors found dozens of machine gun bullets and other live ammunition in his check-through luggage, an airport spokeswoman said.

Pvt. Patrick Christopher Mahler, 24, of Las Vegas, was turned over to a National Guard investigator at Camp Atterbury, Ind., where he had been training for deployment to Afghanistan with about 700 soldiers from Nevada’s 1st Squadron, 221st Cavalry, said Susan Sullivan, a spokeswoman for the Indianapolis Airport Authority.

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Mahler was trying to catch a plane to Las Vegas while on leave before the deployment and told investigators he had taken the ammunition without the knowledge of superiors and because he thought “it was cool,” Sullivan said, referring to a quote by Mahler in an airport police report.

No charges were filed against Mahler, she said. He had been held at the airport for about three hours after the ammunition was discovered about 1:30 p.m. today, Sullivan said.

Mahler “didn’t attempt to enter a secure area with ammunition,” Sullivan said today. Instead, the ammunition was discovered by screeners for the Transportation Security Administration in a nonpublic area of the airport.

She said TSA inspectors found 136 rounds of .762-caliber ammunition; seven .50-caliber rounds; three .233-caliber rifle bullets; and one 40 mm training grenade.

Nevada National Guard officials deferred comment to a spokeswoman at Camp Atterbury. Maj. Lisa Kopczynski, an Indiana National Guard spokeswoman at Camp Atterbury, also said no charges had been filed Friday against Mahler. Kopczynski said Mahler was “in a safe and secure environment” at the National Guard training camp near Columbus, Ind.

Personnel from Camp Atterbury had recovered the ammunition, Kopczynski said. This was the second time in three months that a member of the U.S. military tried to travel on an airline with luggage containing live ammunition.

A Marine on a flight from Las Vegas bound for Charlotte, N.C., was arrested April 19 at Boston’s Logan International Airport after a 9 mm gun, several hundred rounds of machine gun ammunition and bomb-making materials were found in his bags during a layover there.

The Marine, Cpl. Justin W. Reed, of Jacksonville, N.C., pleaded not guilty to charges of smuggling a semiautomatic handgun and prohibited items on the US Airways flight.

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. Patrick mahler wrote on July 21, 2009 08:26 AM: This was so blown up on the news they can't even get the story rite so the news to me now is just BS patriot wrote on June 19, 2009 10:33 PM: Dave, you're probably one of the pansies that voted for Obongo! TimeRanger wrote on June 19, 2009 10:28 PM: Just wondering why the so-called reporter tried to sensationalize the story by calling the stuff "machine gun bullets" And to "Dave" - You REALLY need to get a life! Dave wrote on June 19, 2009 10:02 PM: Hey Bob, are you that much of a pansy you have to bring a gun with you whenever you travel? JOE wrote on June 19, 2009 10:00 PM: This guy should be arrested like anyone else would have. Just another psycho soldier. jl wrote on June 19, 2009 09:10 PM: what a bunch of bozos....... remo2 wrote on June 19, 2009 08:39 PM: It's all cool. Let him bring that stuff to Nevada cuz the Nevada AG says it's ok. Ask the NRA because no media source is Nevada caught this (good thing I'm a member of the NRA or I wouldn't even know: http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=4971 Joshua wrote on June 19, 2009 07:38 PM: 136 rounds of .762 caliber ammunition? If such a load existed it would take a beast to haul that much of it. It was probably 7.62mm ammunition. GRUMPY wrote on June 19, 2009 07:08 PM: Some of them female TSA agents are fine they can check my pee shooter anytime. Bob Merten wrote on June 19, 2009 06:54 PM: I fly in and outof Vegas several times a year and ALWAYS have a handgun(s) and ammo in my checked baggage I just follow the rules and show it and declare it at check in and have never had a problem But then I'm not trying to get away with anything...I'm just following the laws...