Man Eats Flash Drive to Destroy Evidence

Add obstruction of justice charges to his file
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 2, 2010 7:03 PM CST
Man Eats Flash Drive to Destroy Evidence
Flash drives aren't made to be eaten.   (Photo: Business Wire)

A man accused of ATM fraud ate a flash drive in an attempt to destroy evidence against him, authorities say. The New Yorker swallowed the USB drive at a Secret Service office in Brooklyn where he was taken after being arrested outside a bank. When he didn't pass the drive after 4 days, it was surgically removed. It's not clear whether the drive still works, and the maker couldn't predict if it would.

"As you might imagine, we have no actual experience with someone swallowing a USB," a representative tells the Smoking Gun. The man was charged with obstruction of justice for eating the drive. He and his associates stand accused of using card readers to get the numbers of recently used ATM cards from bank machines.
(More flash drives stories.)

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