National Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

SOUTH
FORMER CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONER SUES CASTRO FOR $50 MILLION
MIAMI – A former political prisoner in Cuba who says he was repeatedly tortured with drugs and electric shocks sued Fidel Castro’s government yesterday for $50 million in damages.
Nilo Jerez said in court papers that the torture in the early 1970s made him sterile and continues to cause “distress, anxiety, fear, and apprehension.” Mr. Jerez, a vocal opponent of Mr. Castro’s government, said he was tortured during a three-month incarceration at a Havana psychiatric hospital called Mazorra where other political dissidents were kept.
– Associated Press
WEST
FUGITIVE SURRENDERS FOR LAS VEGAS ARMORED TRUCK HEIST
LAS VEGAS – A woman accused in a multimillion-dollar armored truck heist surrendered yesterday after more than 10 years on the run. Heather Catherine Tallchief is accused of driving an armored truck loaded with cash away from the Circus Circus casino in October 1993. Speaking to reporters before she gave herself up, Ms. Tallchief acknowledged her role.
“I truly feel this is the right thing to do,” Ms. Tallchief said. Her lawyer said her boyfriend, also accused in the heist, “brainwashed” her into participating.
Ms. Tallchief was one of several dozen fugitives listed under a heading of “most wanted” on the FBI’s Web site, but was not on its well-known Top 10 Most Wanted list.
– Associated Press
WASHINGTON
U.S. BUYS $100 MILLION OF BIRD FLU VACCINE FOR STOCKPILE
Mass production of a new vaccine that promises to protect against bird flu is poised to begin, as the government yesterday agreed to stockpile $100 million worth of inoculations. The new contract with French vaccine maker Sanofi-Pasteur marks a major scale-up in America’s preparation for the possibility that the worrisome virus could spark an influenza pandemic.
– Associated Press
PENTAGON EMPLOYEE SAID ORDERED TO DESTROY HIJACKER DATA
A Pentagon employee was ordered to destroy documents that identified Mohamed Atta as a terrorist two years before the 2001 attacks, a congressman said yesterday. The employee is prepared to testify next week before the Senate Judiciary Committee and was expected to name the person who ordered him to destroy the large volume of documents, Rep. Curt Weldon, a Republican of Pennsylvania, said.
Mr. Weldon declined to name the employee, citing confidentiality matters. Mr. Weldon described the documents as “2.5 terabytes” – as much as one-fourth of all the printed materials in the Library of Congress, he added.
– Associated Press
SOUTHEAST
STALLED OPHELIA SOAKS COASTAL NORTH CAROLINA
SALTER PATH, N.C. – Hurricane Ophelia crawled along the North Carolina coast yesterday, prolonging its punishment of the Outer Banks with rain and wind as coastal residents elsewhere returned home to damaged homes and businesses.
While the weakening storm’s center was expected to stay just off shore, the northern side of Ophelia’s eye wall, the ring of high wind surrounding the eye, could remain over the Outer Banks until this afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said.
Governor Easleyz said getting a handle on the scope of damage was difficult because of the storm’s slow path, first affecting the state’s southeastern coast on Tuesday and then crawling north and east Wednesday and yesterday to its position off the Outer Banks.
– Associated Press