Suspect Held in Theft of Laptops From Military Command Center
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TAMPA, Fla. — Two laptop computers that had been missing from the military command center coordinating the war in Afghanistan were recovered Friday, and a suspect in the theft was in custody, an Air Force spokesman said.
One of the computers that disappeared Thursday from U.S. Central Command contained classified information.
Maj. Mike Richmond, a spokesman for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, wouldn’t comment on a motive but said the laptops apparently weren’t taken because of the information they contained.
The computers were recovered from a private residence. The suspect is a member of the military who had access to the secure area where the laptops were kept, but Richmond declined to identify his branch or rank.
“He was one who was on the list and had access, and in the course of talking to him and others, we got a confession out of him,” Richmond said.
Central Command headquarters is part of MacDill Air Force Base.
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