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CNN Live Today

Jose Padilla Has Record of Evading Justice

Aired June 11, 2002 - 14:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We're learning more today about the Brooklyn-born kid of Puerto Rican descent who allegedly rubbed elbows with some of the most feared people on earth.

CNN's Jeff Flock has been digging into Jose Padilla's police file in Chicago, and joins us now to tell us what he found.

Hi, Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CHICAGO BUREAU CHIEF: Hello to you, Kyra.

Indeed, finding some interesting stuff in this file. This is part of his arrest record here in Chicago. And we've also now just obtained, our Miami bureau has, his driving record in Florida. An interesting pattern emerges from both of these sets of documents; and that is that basically every crime that he was charged with and every traffic violation for which he was cited, he essentially blew off -- either changing his name or just ignoring the citation, forfeiting his bond and just disappearing. Interesting -- an interesting pattern.

That is the man, Jose Padilla, born, as you say, in Brooklyn, New York. Came here to Chicago at a very young age and spent most of his time here. And Mr. Padilla now, of course, is in a brig -- a Navy brig out on the East Coast.

Now in terms of what we can tell you about these various records. Let's take a look at some of the documents. As we said, in Chicago, a long arrest record. But it appears on some of the documents, you see Jose Padilla as the name, but then there are a list of aliases. Jose Hernandez (ph) is another one that's used. Jose Rivera (ph) is also used. Julio Rodriguez (ph) is also used. And you see various of these documents with different names on. And it appears that for every time he was charged he simply, as we say, blew it off, forfeited his bond. The bonds were not that much because these were not tremendously serious crimes, and he just kind of moved on from there.

We've also been poking around in the neighborhood. And perhaps we have pictures that show you the area where Mr. Padilla grew up. That's his street there and his home, at least where he lived in Chicago. A woman who remembers the family well now lives in that apartment with the flag in the -- in the front window there. She says she remembers a boy who was a smart kid, who actually was a good kid and she didn't remember having a lot of problems. But obviously he did have difficulty with the law, apparently joining a street gang and getting into juvenile trouble.

And as we said, a very, very interesting pattern emerging simply because the government has said and the person of -- Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld today that the thing they most need from him is cooperation. And the string that runs through all of this, Kyra, is a lack of cooperation with authorities on the part of Mr. Padilla's. So if they're not getting anything from him right now, that certainly follows the pattern.

That's the latest from here. We'll keep looking. Back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, our Jeff Flock. Thanks so much, Jeff.

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