ORLANDO, Fla., AP - An astronaut drove 900 miles and donned a disguise to confront a woman she believed was her rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot, police said. She was arrested Monday and charged with attempted kidnapping and other counts.
U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak, 43, who flew last July on a shuttle mission to the international space station, was also charged with attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery. She was denied bail.
Police said Nowak drove from her home in Houston to the Orlando International Airport to confront Colleen Shipman.
Nowak believed Shipman was romantically involved with Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, a pilot during space shuttle Discovery's trip to the space station last December, police said.
Nowak told police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to an arrest affidavit. Police officers recovered a love letter to Oefelein in her car.
NASA spokesman James Hartsfield in Houston said that, as of Monday, Nowak's status with the astronaut corps remained unchanged.
"What will happen beyond that, I will not speculate," he said.
Hartsfield said he couldn't recall the last time an astronaut was arrested and said there were no rules against fraternizing among astronauts.
When she found out that Shipman was flying to Orlando from Houston, Nowak decided to confront her, according to the arrest affidavit. Nowak raced from Houston to Orlando wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate, authorities said.
Astronauts wear diapers during launch and re-entry.
Dressed in a wig and a trench coat, Nowak boarded an airport bus that Shipman took to her car in an airport parking lot. Shipman told police she noticed someone following her, hurried inside the car and locked the doors, according to the arrest affidavit.
Nowak rapped on the window, tried to open the car door and asked for a ride. Shipman refused but rolled down the car window a few inches when Nowak started crying. Nowak then sprayed a chemical into Shipman's car, the affidavit said.
Shipman drove to the parking lot booth, and the police were called.
During a check of the parking lot, an officer followed Nowak and watched her throw away a bag containing the wig and BB gun. They also found a steel mallet, a 4-inch folding knife, rubber tubing, $600 and garbage bags inside a bag Nowak was carrying when she was arrested, authorities said.
Inside Nowak's vehicle, which was parked at a nearby motel, authorities uncovered a pepper spray package, an unused BB-gun cartridge, latex gloves and e-mails between Shipman and Oefelein. They also found a letter "that indicated how much Mrs. Nowak loved Mr. Oefelein," an opened package for a buck knife, Shipman's home address and hand written directions to the address, the arrest affidavit said.
Police said Nowak told them that she only wanted to scare Shipman into talking to her about her relationship with Oefelein and didn't want to harm her physically.
"If you were just going to talk to someone, I don't know that you would need a wig, a trench coat, an air cartridge BB gun and pepper spray," said Sgt. Barbara Jones, a spokeswoman for the Orlando Police Department. "It's just really a very sad case. ... Now she ends up finding herself on the other side of the law with some very serious charges."
If convicted of attempted kidnapping, Nowak could face a maximum of life in prison.
It was not immediately known whether Nowak had an attorney.
Oefelein and Shipman did not immediately return phone messages Monday night.
According to NASA's official biography, Nowak is married with three children. During her 13-day mission in July she operated the robotic arm during three spacewalks.
Oefelein is unmarried. He piloted the space shuttle Discovery in December. He has two children, according to a NASA biography.
Nowak and Oefelein were both first-time fliers during their shuttle missions last year. They trained together but never flew together.
NOW THAT IS A GOD DAM GAYE ROBAT!!! LOOK A THAT FUCKIN DICK ON HIS HAND, HE PROBLY SUX IT EVER NITE CUZ HE IS A GAY FAG LIEK U FAGGETS!! MAN, U FAGS LIEK ROBAT DONG HANDS UP UR GAY ASSES DON'T U, HA HA HA HA HA HA I NEW IT!!!
UPDATE!
Charged astronaut gets new Navy job
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The former astronaut fired by NASA after she was charged with trying to kidnap a romantic rival will develop flight lesson plans as part of her new military assignment.
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Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak will work on developing curriculum and training programs when she joins the staff of the Chief of Naval Air Training Command in Corpus Christi next month, said a Navy spokesman, Lt. Sean Robertson.
She was originally expected to report for work this week, but Robertson said Nowak will start her new job in April.
Nowak was arrested Feb. 5 on suspicion of confronting a romantic rival in a parking lot at the airport in Orlando, Fla. Police said Nowak pepper-sprayed Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman, the girlfriend of astronaut Bill Oefelein, and had in her possession a BB gun, steel mallet, knife and rubber tubing.
NASA fired Nowak a month later, and the Navy said she would be transferred to the Corpus Christi command. She is free on bail.
Nowak, a mother of three, could go to trial in late July. Her arraignment was scheduled for Thursday but she is not expected to appear since her attorney already has filed a not guilty plea to the charges of attempted kidnapping, burglary with assault and battery.
Updating the previous story.
ORLANDO, Fla. - Former astronaut Lisa Nowak didn't wear diapers during her 950-mile road trip to confront a romantic rival, her lawyer said Friday, disputing one of the more bizarre details to emerge from the NASA love triangle.
"The biggest lie in this preposterous tale that has been told is that my client drove from Houston, Texas, to Orlando, Florida, nonstop, wearing a diaper," Donald Lykkebak said after filing motions to suppress evidence in Nowak's criminal case. "That is an absolute fabrication."
The tidbit that Nowak wore diapers during her trip was written in the police report filed after Nowak's arrest in February.
"I then asked Mrs. Nowak why she had baby diapers," according to the charging affidavit written by Officer William "Chris" Becton. "Mrs. Nowak said that she didn't want to stop and use the restroom, so she used the diapers to collect her urine."
There were toddler-size diapers in her car when she was arrested, but they were several years old, Lykkebak said. Nowak and her family had used them when Houston was evacuated in 2005 during Hurricane Rita, he said.
The diaper detail became fodder for late-night TV comics and talk radio and even inspired an episode of the NBC show "Law & Order."
"It jeopardizes our ability to have a fair trial when the accused is the butt of jokes," Lykkebak said.
Lykkebak didn't say why he waited until now to dispute the police report.
An Orlando police spokeswoman, Sgt. Barb Jones, said she couldn't comment about the case specifically. She said a court would determine the accuracy of the facts.
Nowak, 44, was charged with attempted kidnapping, battery and burglary with assault in a confrontation at Orlando International Airport with Colleen Shipman, the girlfriend of former astronaut Bill Oefelein. Oefelein told detectives he had a two-year relationship with Nowak but ended it some time after he started a relationship with Shipman.
Nowak has pleaded not guilty and her trial is set for September. She was dismissed from the astronaut corps a month after her arrest.
Oefelein was dismissed from the corps at the beginning of June.
Lykkebak filed a motion asking a judge to prevent statements that Nowak made to police from being entered into evidence, claiming she had not been properly advised of her constitutional rights.
He also asked that evidence found in her car not be allowed to be introduced in court, saying it was seized without a search warrant. Police officers recovered maps to Shipman's home, large garbage bags, latex gloves and Shipman's flight information.
While the attorney insists that Nowak didn't wear diapers, he never denied the fact that his client is one crazy bitch.
This case will take some bizarre turn where, in order to prove her innocence will hinge on proving that she WAS wearing diapers, and the defense will have to backtrack and make them all look like asses.
"Say Jim! WHOOOO! That is a bad outFIT! Whooo!"--Pimp, Superman The Movie "You're an idiot, Starscream." --Megatron,Transformers: The Movie
