Teens drive stolen car on to US anti-terrorism base

MIAMI - Two teenage car thieves drove a stolen car on Wednesday without being stopped onto the US military base that commands much of the war on terror, triggering an investigation into the security breach, police and military officials said.

Police in Tampa, Florida, said the joyriders were only stopped and arrested after ramming two police cruisers that had entered MacDill Air Force Base in pursuit.

Police had been monitoring the vehicle as it sped through the Florida Gulf Coast city after eluding a police speed trap, said police spokeswoman Laura McElroy.

The car then "blasted through the gate at the base," and police at that point took up the chase and were waved through by Military Police, McElroy said.

There was nothing at the gate preventing entry to MacDill, which houses the US Central Command, responsible for US military operations in the Horn of Africa, Middle East and Central Asia and therefore for much of the US war on terror.

Public affairs spokesman Air Force Lt Larry van der Oord declined to discuss specific security measures in force at the gate but said an investigation had been launched.

"But the thing to remember is that this is an isolated incident. The suspects were apprehended very quickly once they made their way into the base and taken into custody," van der Oord said.

Davaraye Mungin, 16, and Damia Bowie, 16, both well-known to the police, face charges of grand theft auto, fleeing law enforcement, resisting arrest with violence and aggravated assault on a policeman. They may also face federal charges.

- REUTERS