Marines Busted For Parachute Sabotage

Two Marines have been arrested in the suspected sabotage of more than a dozen parachutes last fall, officials said. Three jumpers were slightly injured when they were forced to use their reserve chutes.

No charges were filed immediately against Lance Cpl. Antoine D. Boykins, 21, and Lance Cpl. Julian Ramirez, 25, who were placed in the brig Tuesday night, Staff Sgt. Jay Connolly said.

Boykins and Ramirez are air delivery specialists with 2nd Transportation Support Battalion, 2nd Force Service Support Group. Their hometowns were not immediately available.

Special agent Klain Garage of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service would not say what led to the arrests.

The three Marines were hurt in the training jump Sept. 21 when their main parachutes failed, forcing them to use reserve chutes. They were jumping from a C-17 Globemaster during heavy equipment parachute training.

When they returned to Cherry Point Air Station, the jump masters in charge discovered that in all, suspension lines on 13 of 25 parachutes had been cut and the chutes repacked to hide the sabotage.

The day before the incident, other jumpers went through training and the parachutes were stored in a large locker that had only three keys, Marine officials said.