About 60 nautical miles off the coast of Southern California in Los Angeles County, the U.S. Navy operates a clandestine training facility on San Clemente Island, where, federal prosecutors say, on April 6, Andrew Kyle White, illegally landed a small “fish spotter” plane he built himself on a government landing strip.
And not for the first time, federal prosecutors say. In October 2023, he was arrested after he landed on San Clemente Island without permission, but charges were not pursued after he signed a letter promising to never return.
However, on this crisp April day earlier this spring, according to a criminal complaint, White, 37, a married San Diego father of an infant, didn’t just land illegally. He also “proceeded to steal a government vehicle, namely, a white Ford F150 truck,” which he then drove erratically all over the island, crashing through gates and launching a military manhunt for the unknown intruder…