MADISON - Luke Bacher has been evacuated from the state Capitol before. But when he and others were told to leave shortly after 5 p.m. Monday, there was a greater sense of urgency. Police were very aggressive in getting people out.
"They didn't want us remotely near the Capitol. I've never seen anything like that," Bacher said.
Bacher, of Monroe, is a legislative aide to state Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, and was in the Capitol on Monday when it was evacuated because of the potential threat posed by a stolen plane being piloted near Madison.
The evacuation was ordered after Adam Dylan Leon, 31, allegedly stole a plane from Canada, then flew erratically over three states while attracting two Wisconsin National Guard fighter jets to escort the plane.
He was arrested at a convenience store in Ellsinore, Mo., shortly after police said he landed the single-engine, four-seat Cessna to end a six-hour flight on Monday night on a rural Missouri road.
"(I) just grabbed my car keys and went out in the hallway; there were people and police everywhere. It was pretty chaotic," Bacher said in a telephone interview Tuesday with the Times.
Davis wasn't in the Capitol at the time of the evacuation. Bacher described seeing numerous black sport utility vehicles outside the building and police directing occupants across the street.
He heard an announcement three times over the emergency intercom system in the capitol to leave immediately because of an emergency, he said. The message didn't say what caused the emergency.
Bacher said he didn't know the reason for the evacuation until later.
The plane was reported stolen Monday afternoon from Confederation College Flight School at Thunder Bay International Airport in Ontario. It was intercepted by two F-16 fighters from the Wisconsin National Guard after crossing into the state near the Michigan border.
The pilot was flying erratically and didn't communicate with the fighter pilots, said Mike Kucharek, spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado.
It is unknown if Leon flew the stolen plane over Green County, Sheriff Randy Roderick said.
The department was informed through a written statement Monday evening from the National Guard that the fighter planes were sent outn, but the Sheriff's Department was not contacted directly by federal or state authorities to take action, he said. Also, no reports came to the dispatch center, Roderick said.
If the plane were to have flown over Green County, the Sheriff's Department might have called in more workers and prepared to follow directions from federal and state agencies, depending on the nature of the fly-over. However, the department does not have a specific plan to handle a suspicious aircraft, Roderick said.
The plane did not fly over Lafayette County, Sheriff Scott Pedley said. The county does have a plan to deal with emergency situations through its Homeland Security protocol, he said.
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
"They didn't want us remotely near the Capitol. I've never seen anything like that," Bacher said.
Bacher, of Monroe, is a legislative aide to state Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, and was in the Capitol on Monday when it was evacuated because of the potential threat posed by a stolen plane being piloted near Madison.
The evacuation was ordered after Adam Dylan Leon, 31, allegedly stole a plane from Canada, then flew erratically over three states while attracting two Wisconsin National Guard fighter jets to escort the plane.
He was arrested at a convenience store in Ellsinore, Mo., shortly after police said he landed the single-engine, four-seat Cessna to end a six-hour flight on Monday night on a rural Missouri road.
"(I) just grabbed my car keys and went out in the hallway; there were people and police everywhere. It was pretty chaotic," Bacher said in a telephone interview Tuesday with the Times.
Davis wasn't in the Capitol at the time of the evacuation. Bacher described seeing numerous black sport utility vehicles outside the building and police directing occupants across the street.
He heard an announcement three times over the emergency intercom system in the capitol to leave immediately because of an emergency, he said. The message didn't say what caused the emergency.
Bacher said he didn't know the reason for the evacuation until later.
The plane was reported stolen Monday afternoon from Confederation College Flight School at Thunder Bay International Airport in Ontario. It was intercepted by two F-16 fighters from the Wisconsin National Guard after crossing into the state near the Michigan border.
The pilot was flying erratically and didn't communicate with the fighter pilots, said Mike Kucharek, spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado.
It is unknown if Leon flew the stolen plane over Green County, Sheriff Randy Roderick said.
The department was informed through a written statement Monday evening from the National Guard that the fighter planes were sent outn, but the Sheriff's Department was not contacted directly by federal or state authorities to take action, he said. Also, no reports came to the dispatch center, Roderick said.
If the plane were to have flown over Green County, the Sheriff's Department might have called in more workers and prepared to follow directions from federal and state agencies, depending on the nature of the fly-over. However, the department does not have a specific plan to handle a suspicious aircraft, Roderick said.
The plane did not fly over Lafayette County, Sheriff Scott Pedley said. The county does have a plan to deal with emergency situations through its Homeland Security protocol, he said.
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.