Have Mace, BB gun, and will travel!
By Sinclere Lee
ORLANDO, Florida (BNW) – In a “Bitch... you ain’t good enough to take my man!” moment, Navy Capt Lisa Nowak, 43, who once flew to the international space station last July, was charged with attempted kidnapping, battery and other crimes against another female astronaut.
Nowak drove from Texas to Florida, damn near a 1000 miles, to confront Colleen Shipman. Disguised in a wig and trench coat with BB gun and mace in hand, sister-girl was ready to do some serious damage.
This bitch is a nut! Police said Capt Nowak, who was denied bail, used pepper spray on Shipman but the BB gun wouldn’t shoot.
The man in the love triangle was said to be Navy Cmdr William Oefelein, who was a pilot on the Discovery's mission to the space station in December. Nasa’s Web site lists Capt Nowak as married with three children… I wonder what her husband thinks? Cmdr Oefelein is listed as single with two children. The pair never flew together, but they damn for sure got together.
Nowak, 43, has been charged with battery, attempted kidnapping, attempted burglary to a vehicle and destruction of evidence. Police have recommended Nowak be held without bond, but she made a 15,000 bond at a hearing this morning.
According to the report, she told police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship."
Nowak drove from Houston, Texas, to Orlando to meet Shipman, who was flying the same route, to talk with the woman about her alleged relationship with Oefelein, the report said.
Shipman is an engineer assigned to the 45th Launch Support Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base, near the Kennedy Space Center.
Shipman told police that she arrived at the airport about 1 a.m. but had to wait two hours for her luggage to arrive.
She said once she retrieved her bags, she then took a bus to the lot where her car was parked. There, she noted a woman wearing a trench coat who appeared to be following her.
Fearing for her safety, Shipman quickly stepped into her car, the police report said, adding that she reported hearing "running footsteps" behind her.
Shipman closed and locked her car door as Nowak slapped the window of the car and tried to open the car door, the report said.
Nowak told Shipman her ride had not arrived and asked for help, but Shipman refused, saying she would send help instead. When Nowak complained she couldn't hear Shipman and started to cry, Shipman opened her car window "about 2 inches" — and Nowak sprayed pepper spray into the car, police said.
Diapers for long car trip
Shipman, her eyes burning, drove to a toll booth in the lot to summon police. An officer went to the bus stop and found Nowak, who was wearing a different coat, the report said. Approaching the stop, the officer observed Nowak put some items into a trash can, the report said.
Those items included a wig and a plastic bag containing a carbon dioxide-powered BB pistol, the report said.
Inside a bag Nowak was carrying, the officer found a tan trench coat, a new steel mallet, a new folding knife with a 4-inch blade, 3 to 4 feet of rubber tubing, large plastic garbage bags and about $600 in cash, the report said.
Nowak acknowledged details of Shipman's allegations, according to the police report, and permitted a search of her car.
Inside the car, police found a half-dozen latex gloves, MapQuest directions from Houston to Orlando International Airport, e-mails from Shipman to Oefelein, diapers that Nowak said she used to eliminate stops along the highway, a letter indicating how much she loved Oefelein and directions to Shipman's home address in Florida, the report said.
E-mails
Capt Nowak pursued Ms Shipman to her vehicle in the car park. Shipman locked herself in but rolled down the window when Capt Nowak began to cry, the affidavit says. Shipman was then attacked with the pepper spray, it says. She drove to a car park booth and police were called.
An officer followed Capt Nowak and she was stopped allegedly carrying the wig, an air rifle, a steel mallet and a knife.
A search of her vehicle revealed pepper spray and e-mails between Shipman and Cmdr Oefelein, police said.
In the affidavit, Nowak describes her attachment to Cmdr Oefelein as "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship".
Capt Nowak told police she just wanted to scare her rival into talking about her relationship with Cmdr Oefelein.
Attempted kidnapping carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
A Nasa spokesman said at present Capt Nowak's status was "unchanged".
Florida's Orlando Sentinel newspaper said Shipman was an engineer with the 45th Launch Support Squadron at a base close to the Kennedy Space Centre.