A Nevada couple accused of driving into a restricted US Department of Energy site with a handgun have said they took a wrong turn, despite allegedly passing signs warning that unauthorised entry and firearms were forbidden.
Jessica Zamora, 26, and Treyvon Currie, 31, were stopped after travelling about 300 feet into the Nevada National Security Site in North Las Vegas on August 5, according to a federal criminal complaint.
The complaint, based on evidence from FBI Special Agent Nick Baranishyn, alleges that the pair were in an unregistered Saturn sedan and had a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol inside a bag. Neither was said to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
Zamora’s lawyer, Chris Rasmussen, rejected the suggestion that the couple intended to penetrate a sensitive government installation.
“I think they were just lost and drove up to the facility,” he told the Daily Mail. “I didn’t think there’s any question that they’re not involved in any type of espionage or trying to enter this facility.”
Couple face federal charges after Nevada facility incident
Both defendants face charges including attempted entry to US property by fraud with the intention of committing a felony, possession of a firearm in a federal facility, unauthorised entry to Department of Energy property and introducing a dangerous weapon on to the site.
The North Las Vegas facility is one of three Nevada National Security Site locations in the state. The entrance involved in the incident lies just north of the city, several miles from the Las Vegas Strip, and is protected by security gates and warning signs. ([aol.com](https://www.aol.com/articles/man-woman-tried-enter-secure-025404000.html?utm_source=openai))
According to the complaint, the couple told security officers they were following another vehicle into the site for an unspecified purpose. Currie allegedly named two people, Damien Frazier and Ashley Jenkins, but officers could not find either name among the facility’s employees.
After being told there was no record of the pair, Currie allegedly began reaching beneath his seat and towards other areas of the car. When an officer asked whether there was a gun inside, he is said to have replied that there was one.
Zamora then allegedly told another officer that the weapon was in a bag at her feet. Security staff removed the couple from the vehicle and recovered the pistol, along with a memorial card for Frazier, who had died several weeks earlier, according to the complaint.
The Nevada National Security Site supports the National Nuclear Security Administration’s stockpile stewardship work, including subcritical experiments involving nuclear materials. Its official description also lists emergency response, non-proliferation and wider national security research among its activities. ([nnss.gov](https://nnss.gov/mission/stockpile-stewardship-program/?utm_source=openai))
Separate Las Vegas shooting investigation
The incident prompted security officers to contact Las Vegas police, who found that both Zamora and Currie had been flagged in connection with an investigation into a non-fatal shooting days earlier.
Investigators allege that surveillance footage showed Currie firing 12 rounds at a man who was running away after an argument outside a shop. Zamora was allegedly seen collecting spent cartridge cases.
The couple allegedly told police that the handgun recovered at the federal site was the same weapon used in the shooting. The claims have not been tested at trial.
Currie was booked into the Clark County Detention Centre on August 10 on state charges including assault with a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and multiple counts of discharging a firearm where people might have been endangered. He was given a $5,000 bond, although it was unclear whether he had been released.
Zamora was not shown in detention records as having been charged in connection with the shooting. Rasmussen said his client had been released from federal custody without conditions and was likely to face no more than probation over the alleged entry to the Department of Energy property.
He said the allegations about the shooting had been included by authorities to “colour it up”, and argued that the circumstances described in the complaint were unusual but required further examination of the recordings and the full context of the couple’s answers.
