AIRPORT TIP NETS DRUG CHARGES IN NORFOLK

NORFOLK -- An airport police officer jumped onto a moving car and
fired his gun into its engine early Monday to stop a woman suspected
of smuggling drugs from overseas, officials said.

Officer Robert Lang ran to the arrivals side of Norfolk International
Airport's main passenger terminal about 12:30 a.m. to stop the woman,
who had arrived on a US Airways flight from St. Martin, said Wayne
Shank, the airport's deputy executive director.

Gilda J. Brown jumped into a waiting car driven by her 19-year-old
daughter, Martine, while Lang stood in front of the car, holding his
hand out and signaling the daughter to stop, Shank said Tuesday.

But Brown told her daughter to keep going and the car hit Lang, who
jumped onto the hood, pulled his gun and fired twice into the engine,
Shank said. The car stopped, and the two women were arrested, he
said. Lang was unharmed, Shank said.

When U.S. Customs officials searched Brown, who also goes by the last
name Wilson, they found a little more than 2 kilograms of powder
cocaine taped to her body, Shank said. Customs agents estimated the
value of the drugs at about $55,000, said Deborah DiFalco, resident
agent in charge of the customs service's Norfolk investigations
office.

Brown is being held in the Norfolk City Jail on $250,000 bond,
officials said. DiFalco said the case is under investigation by
federal authorities.

Police charged Gilda Brown with transporting, manufacturing, sale and
possession of a controlled substance. She and her daughter, who was
released on bail, both were charged with assaulting a police officer,
officials said.

Federal charges are pending against Gilda Brown, DiFalco said.

Shank said he thought the woman lived in Chesapeake, but Norfolk
narcotics investigators said through a spokesman that they would not
release any details.

``It's certainly not the type of excitement we like to see here, but
the upside of all of this is that no one was injured,'' Shank said.
``The officer wasn't injured, and no one else was either.''

The woman's flight apparently connected through Charlotte, but
customs agents there did not get a tip about her suspected activity,
DiFalco said.

Before the plane landed in Norfolk, Hampton Roads agents had been
tipped off by another customs office and were on their way to the
airport, DiFalco said. When Brown arrived, agents and airport police
identified her as the passenger and asked her if they could search
her bags, Shank said. Norfolk police helped, officials said.

Brown consented and agents found nothing, Shank said. When they asked
her if they could strip-search her, she headed for the exit, Shank
said. He said several witnesses saw the shooting, which took place
after the car had pulled away from a curb.

Lang has been with the airport department since September 1998, Shank
said, adding that the officer's actions are not under internal
investigation.

``There were witnesses and the officer discharged his weapon,'' Shank
said, ``but not at an individual.''