Special Forces Soldier Who Shot Chechen Illegal Won't Be Charged; Details Reveal Tom Clancy-Like Scene
No charges will be filed against a Special Forces soldier based at
Fort Liberty, North Carolina, who shot and killed a Chechen man who was
on his property doing survey work for a utility subcontractor, the Moore
County (NC) Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday, citing the North
Carolina Castle Doctrine.
As RedState reported in late May, Ramzan Daraev was spotted taking
photographs of the soldier's home around 8:15 PM on Friday, May 3, and
reportedly became aggressive toward the soldier when approached. When
law enforcement authorities arrived at the home in the Carthage area
they found Daraev's body approximately 250 yards from the roadway, along
a powerline on the property.
At the time of the initial report, there were several red flags in the information reported by the Sheriff's Office:
Daraev was not in possession of any utility equipment, utility clothing, or identification.
The only identifying document found was Daraev's international driver's license, which was on his car and not on his person.
Daraev was working at dusk on a Friday night, without notifying the homeowner of his presence.
There are additional red flags and interesting bits of information in the (long) press release from MCSO:
Daraev
was first spotted by the soldier/homeowner's wife, who reported that he
was taking pictures near their residence while she was outside with
their children.
The homeowner, unarmed, approached Daraev to ask what he was doing, then asked him to leave.
Darev became aggressive, refused to leave, and said he was a Chechen who'd fought in Ukraine for the Russian military.
Two calls were made from the home to 911; approximately 20 minutes elapsed between the time of the first call and the shooting.
After
the first 911 call the homeowner went inside his home to get a handgun
for safety, then went back outside to keep an eye on Daraev until law
enforcement arrived.
After the second 911 call (13 minutes after
the first) Daraev lunged at the homeowner several times, and the
homeowner fired multiple shots at Daraev.
Whether on his person
or in his vehicle, the only items Daraev had with him were his
international drivers license and his cell phone.
Daraev was wearing black shorts, a burgundy t-shirt, and flip flops at the time he died.
Daraev was driving his personal vehicle, a Chevrolet Spark.
Daraev entered the United States through the southern border in December, 2022.
Daraev
had an encounter with a patrol deputy about two hours before he was
shot, but as Daraev wasn't doing anything illegal he was not detained.
Investigators (including federal and military agencies) have not been able to access Daraev's phone.
Daraev
was working with Cable Warriors, a subcontractor of Utilities One, as
part of Brightspeed's fiberoptic project in Moore County.
Among
the digital evidence: electrical infrastructure maps related to the
utility expansion provided to employees from a Russian cloud server.
From the Moore County Sheriff's Office announcement:
On
the evening of May 3, at dusk, the homeowner’s wife, while outside with
their children, observed an unidentified individual, later identified
as Ramzan Daraev, taking photographs near their remote residence. She
informed her husband, who was reportedly unarmed at the time and
approached the individual to see what he was doing. Given the remote
location of their property, the presence of an unknown person taking
photographs raised significant security concerns. Unable to establish
who Daraev was or why he was on the property, the homeowner asked him to
leave. According to the homeowner, Daraev became aggressive and
refused to leave the property, at one point asserting that he was a
Chechen national who had served in the Russian military and fought in
Ukraine, although investigators have been unable to establish Daraev’s
prior foreign military status. The homeowner reported that he
then went to his residence and retrieved a handgun before returning to
ensure his family's safety until law enforcement arrived.
According
to the Sheriff's Office, the homeowner's wife called 911 at 8:12 PM and
reported that there was a suspicious person on the property who had
become aggressive when her husband asked him to leave. Sheriff's
Deputies were responding to a life-threatening emergency nearby that was
not related to this incident, so they weren't able to immediately
respond.
Daraev became increasingly aggressive
while the homeowner was waiting for law enforcement, and the wife called
again at 8:25 PM. During that call, she pleaded for "expedited law
enforcement response," according to the press release, and her husband
could be heard yelling at her asking for that expedited response. The
wife "secured a rifle during one of the calls, reflecting the perceived
level of threat."
The shooting happened shortly after that second
call. Daraev "lunged several times" at the homeowner and the homeowner
fired shots in response to that, the release states.
It gets a lot more interesting and nerve-wracking.
Authorities
found Daraev's vehicle, a Chevrolet Spark registered to Daraev at his
Chicago address, parked along the road. There was nothing identifying
Daraev as a utility worker in the vehicle, and no equipment save for the
cell phone in Daraev's possession, which he was using to take photos.
Daraev was wearing black shorts, a burgundy t-shirt, and flip-flops at
the time he was shot.
There was a second vehicle located near
Daraev's, belonging to Adsalam Dzhankutov from Illinois, a co-worker of
Daraev's. Dzhankutov was also performing utility work in the area.
Business
records indicate that Daraev was conducting legitimate utility work in
the area at the time, although there was nothing on his person or in his
vehicle indicating that he was conducting utility work. Daraev was
employed by Cable Warriors, a subcontractor of Utilities One, and was
conducting surveys as part of Brightspeed's fiber optic expansion into
the Carthage area of Moore County. Additionally, maps obtained related
to Daraev's intended work area included a power pole approximately 115
feet from the residence, consistent with where the homeowner reported
first seeing Daraev. Other recovered images indicated that it was common
practice for this group to conduct utility work after dark with no
evidence that any property owners were notified. Other workers
in the utility industry told investigators that conducting utility work
near dark on or near private property, especially during non-emergency
activities, without identifying clothing and without notifying the
homeowner is not common practice.
Business records obtained by RedState reveal that Cable Warriors was
incorporated in late 2022 in New Jersey by Silvia Midari, whose prior
job history includes a stint as a cashier at the Pantry Store and
Arnold's Restaurant on Cape Cod. While Midari lists her title as
"Business Development Specialist" on LinkedIn, incorporation documents
show her as the CEO and sole shareholder.
Midari's
LinkedIn profile also reveals a six-year gap between her employment in
Eastern Europe with a translation company immediately prior to her
relocation to New Jersey and the founding of Cable Warriors.
Utilities
One [is] a foreign-registered New Jersey-based company founded in 2016
by a young CEO from Moldova, who founded the firm three years after
moving to the U.S. and working as a dishwasher and selling ice in
Alaska. The company was incorporated on December 20th, 2023.
The company's vice president of fulfillment and infrastructure is from Russia as well.
About
an hour and a half before his encounter with the residents of the Dowd
Road address, Daraev had been stopped by a Sheriffs Deputy:
"[W]alking
along power poles near an isolated field less than a mile from where
the Dowd Road incident later occurred. The deputy observed a vehicle
registered to Daraev, parked nearby and partially in the roadway. Using a
language translation app, the deputy questioned Daraev about his
activities and requested that he move his vehicle. Daraev provided his
international driver's license and explained that he was conducting
utility work, although he had no utility attire. Finding no apparent
violation of law, the deputy documented the encounter through
dispatchers and released Daraev."
Moore County authorities confirmed that Daraev is a "Russian native
from Chechnya" who entered the United States in December, 2022 through
the southern border. Daraev's family maintains that he came legally and
produced a work permit to a Rolling Stone reporter. But if he was coming
from Eastern Europe legally, why come through the southern border?
In their investigation, MCSO found yet another connection with Russia (emphasis mine):
The
Moore County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to assess the operational
background of Utilities One and Cable Warriors, the subcontractor for
whom Daraev was employed. Investigators are also reviewing digital
evidence containing electrical infrastructure maps related to the
utility expansion provided to employees from a Russian cloud server,
which may provide further insights into the subcontractor's activities.
Efforts to access Daraev’s cellular phone continue in effort to fully
understand his activities and the nature of any photographs taken. Some
images Daraev uploaded to a shared directory have been obtained, and
analysis is ongoing.
MCSO has reported the case to
OSHA for investigation of any potential violations. Sending employees
out to survey at dusk, without any type of identifying information,
without notifying homeowners beforehand, and without proper clothing and
footwear sure seems like a bad and dangerous way to do business.
After
the first reports of Daraev's death went national in late May,
Utilities One posted a long statement on Facebook claiming that Daraev
was an oppressed refugee who fled to the United States to escape the
conflict between Russia and Ukraine. They've been silent since the
announcement that no charges will be brought against the soldier.
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