'Marine One' troops arrested in alleged police scuffle
'Marine One' troops arrested in alleged police scuffle
By Gayle S. Putrich
Marine Corps Times staff writer
Two members of the high-profile squadron that flies President Bush aboard "Marine One" were arrested in San Antonio last month after allegedly getting drunk and scuffling with police officers, police said.
Sgts. Zachary Burns, 22, and Daniel Hubbard, 23, were arrested in the early morning hours of Dec. 31 after allegedly throwing a $100 designer chair into the San Antonio River and trying to outrun local police. Burns was charged with criminal mischief and Hubbard with evading arrest and public intoxication.
Capt. Jerome Bryant, aviation spokesman at Marine Corps headquarters, said the pair was not on duty at the time, nor were the Marines in San Antonio on a presidential support mission, but the incident could be detrimental to their security clearances and flight status.
"As with any alleged incident, substantiated misconduct often impacts one's security clearance," Bryant said.
According to the police report, when officers ordered the two sergeants to stop after they threw a restaurant chair into the river and ran away, one stopped and the other kept running.
An officer managed to grab the fleeing Marine's arm and shirt, noting in the report that the Marine was "not steady on his feet," smelled strongly of alcohol and "was intoxicated to the degree of being a danger to himself or others."
"I am a U.S. Marine and we fly the president of the United States! You don't know who you have!" he said, according to the report. "I can't wait to get overseas because every time I shoot one of those people with my .50-caliber gun I will picture your face on them."
While the police report also states that an assistant manager at the restaurant where the incident allegedly began originally intended to press charges, the manager of Landry's Seafood House said Jan. 4 that was not going to happen and a Marine Corps representative had called the restaurant to apologize.
"We're just going to put this behind us," said the manager, who did not give his name.
The sergeants are assigned to the flight-line section of the squadron, a Marine official confirmed. Burns and Hubbard are both back at Quantico, Va., and still are attached to HMX-1, Bryant said.
He also said the incident is under investigation and Burns and Hubbard are assigned to "non-presidential support duty."
Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the two Marines could face punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Bryant said.
The squadron, according to www.globalsecurity.org, is notable not only because it transports the president and is the largest permanently manned squadron in the Marine Corps, but also because it was the first Marine Corps helicopter squadron to be established.
Ellie
