Heinz Field arrests spur terror response
CMU students tried to enter stadium in middle of night; bond set at $1 million
Monday, November 06, 2006
By Gary Rotstein and Nate Guidry, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Two Carnegie Mellon University students caught trying to sneak into Heinz Field in the middle of the night -- purportedly to film a music video -- prompted an anti-terrorist response that included pumped-up security at yesterday's Steelers game against the Broncos.
The two young men were being held last night in the Allegheny County Jail on $1 million straight bond each.
Although explosives-sniffing canines found nothing of interest around the football stadium, an affidavit said the dogs registered two separate "positive hits for explosives" in the Lexus sport utility vehicle the men were driving.
What might have fallen under the prank category in pre-9/11 days was treated as anything but that by authorities, who conducted full searches of the students' apartments and heightened security throughout the afternoon around the stadium on the North Shore.
"We take everything seriously, especially in today's light," Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper said at a morning news conference, while the suspects were still being questioned by agents from the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Arrested outside Heinz Field around 2 a.m. yesterday were Sudeep Paul, 21, of Woodbury, N.Y., and Anand Shankar Durvasula, 20, of Morgan Hill, Calif. Chief Harper said they are U.S.-born. Both were charged with criminal conspiracy, and Mr. Durvasula with criminal trespass. The $1 million straight bond has to be paid in full for release.
Heinz Field security officers spotted the men on a security camera trying to enter the stadium, a Steelers spokesman said. They first opened an exterior door at Gate B without going inside, police said. They then took a folding chair to the fence at Gate 5 on Art Rooney Drive, and Mr. Durvasula allegedly stepped up on the chair to scale the fence.
Heinz Field security officers then approached the pair, and as they tried to walk away, they were apprehended by Pittsburgh police officers who had been summoned. They told police initially they were trying to check out the stadium because they had tickets to yesterday's 4:15 p.m. game against the Denver Broncos, Chief Harper said.
He said they told investigators later that Mr. Paul was trying to complete a music video featuring Mr. Durvasula, and they intended to do the last scene inside Heinz Field. A video camera and tripod were found inside the vehicle, parked nearby, which police towed away.
The affidavit said the vehicle was registered to Paul Swapan Kumar, 41, of Woodbury, N.Y., but it could have meant Kumar Paul, as police initially referred to Sudeep Paul as Paul Sudeep.
"We don't know exactly what their intentions were," Chief Harper said. But, he said, it was unwise for them to attempt to break into the stadium at about 2 a.m. There was no evidence the men had been drinking, he said.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06310/736047-66.stm
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