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Georgia Man Charged In Connection With Charter Jet Theft

Police Say Theft Appeared 'To Be Joyride'

Posted: 4:18 pm EDT October 12, 2005Updated: 5:13 pm EDT October 12, 2005

A 22-year-old man faces charges in connection with the theft of a charter jet and taking it 350 miles from Florida to Georgia.

Police said circumstances of the theft are unclear, but nothing threatening was found on the plane. Police spokesman Darren Moloney said the incident "appears to be a joyride."

Daniel Andrew Wolcott, of Buford, Ga., was charged with felony theft by receiving and misdemeanor reckless conduct. Police said additional federal charges were expected.

Investigators said they made the arrest after interviewing five people who said they were on the 10-passenger, $7 million Cessna Citation VII when Wolcott flew it from St. Augustine, Fla., to Gwinnett County Airport-Briscoe Field near Atlanta Saturday night.

Police said Wolcott has a commercial-rated pilot's license but according to records, that license expired in August 2001. He also was not licensed to fly that type of plane.

The exact circumstances of how Wolcott got to St. Augusine and obtained the plane were unclear. Wolcott lives less than 15 miles from the Gwinnett County Airport-Briscoe Field, where the aircraft was found.

The Federal Aviation Administration officials told Jacksonville, Fla., TV station WJXT that no flight plan was filed and the aircraft's transponder was not turned on, so air traffic controllers did not monitor the flight. The agency is probing its own traffic system to see if there is any record of the plane flying during the time in question, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.

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