The Air Force Reserve plans to discharge a lieutenant colonel accused of causing thousands of dollars in damage by defacing cars with pro-Bush bumper stickers, officials said today.
Lt. Col. Alexis Fecteau, a pilot with 500 combat hours in the first Persian Gulf war and the Balkans, is charged with felony criminal mischief. He is accused of using paint stripper to write “F– Bush” in 18-inch-high letters on cars at Denver International Airport with bumper stickers supporting President Bush and conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh.
Jim Miller, a spokesman for the Air Force Reserve Command at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., said the command plans to begin the process of giving Fecteau an administrative discharge. He said Fecteau does not face any military punishment.
Neither Fecteau nor his lawyer, Patrick Mulligan, immediately returned calls. Mulligan has said Fecteau would plead innocent.
Larry Whittemore of Pueblo, who said his Ford Expedition suffered nearly $2,500 damage in the spree, welcomed the news that Fecteau faces discharge.
“I don’t think he is fit to be in the Air Force,” Whittemore said. “This guy’s charter is to protect and defend the Constitution and the people of the United States.” Fecteau is charged with 13 counts of criminal mischief, five of them felonies because the damage to five vehicles was estimated at more than $500 each.
Police said the vehicles were damaged between January and July 2005 and that a “bait car” rigged with a video camera recorded Fecteau damaging a vehicle at the airport.
A spokeswoman for the Denver district attorney said the Air Force had asked to take jurisdiction in the case but prosecutors refused.
“Our reply was ‘no,”‘ spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough said. “If there were Air Force repercussions that would be fine; it didn’t affect our filing.” Lt. Matthew Fuller, another spokesman at Robins, denied the Air Force wanted to take over the case. Kimbrough said Capt. Steven Loertscher, a lawyer at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, contacted the DA’s office and asked to take over the case.
Loertscher did not return a call seeking comment.
An arrest warrant alleges that Fecteau admitted to investigators he had vandalized cars beginning around the time of the 2004 election.
Much of the damage was minor, involving painting over bumper stickers.
After the charges became public, Fecteau was removed as director of operations for reserve forces at the National Security Space Institute at Peterson.
