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Monday, September 18
Man arrested after Australian athletes detained
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- A man was arrested in connection with
allegedly stolen Olympic athlete security passes in a case that
briefly kept Olympic hero Ian Thorpe and others from the Olympic
Village on Monday.
Acting Sgt. David Rose of New South Wales state police said a
33-year-old man was arrested in connection with the alleged theft
of athlete accreditation passes from the Uniform Distribution and
Accreditation Center in the Sydney suburb of Redfern.
Rose said the man, whose name was not released, was arrested at
his home in the Sydney suburb of Canley Vale by detectives from the
Olympic Security Command Center.
He was interviewed by police and will be given summonses
alleging eight offenses of stealing, officials said.
Police would not say what if any involvement the man had with
the Olympics, such as as an organizing committee employee or a
volunteer.
Thorpe was briefly stopped from entering the Olympic Village
because his security pass had become invalidated. But he was was
easily recognized and not delayed for long.
Officials said there was no unauthorized access to the tightly
controlled village.
Before announcing the arrest, officials said a worker at the
accreditation center apparently had used a computer to print out a
souvenir copy of Thorpe's credential -- an act that automatically
invalidated the original.
The Australian Associated Press also quoted an unidentified
official as confirming that Thorpe's credential had been copied.
Liz Smylie, a spokeswoman for the Sydney Games organizing
committee, said passes of "a handful of athletes" were copied.
Others stopped briefly included champion Australian swimmer
Grant Hackett, a favorite in the 1,500-meter freestyle, according
to Michael Wenden, assistant chief of the Australian Olympic
Committee.
"I understand that Grant Hackett was met at the entrance and
escorted to a security officer to double-check his pass and then
they said, `Thank you very much for your cooperation,' and made
sure that he wasn't inconvenienced in getting to a dining hall,"
Wenden said.
The chief press spokesman for the Sydney organizing committee,
Milton Cockburn, said "there was no unauthorized entry to the
village."
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