Lisa Nowak - Charges of Attempted Kidnapping at Orlando Airport

Charges of Attempted Kidnapping At Orlando Airport

Nowak drove from Houston to Orlando, Florida, on February 4–5, 2007. She packed latex gloves, a black wig, a BB pistol and ammunition, pepper spray, a hooded tan trench coat, a 2-pound drilling hammer, black gloves, rubber tubing, plastic garbage bags, approximately $585 (USD) in cash, her computer, an 8-inch (20 cm) Gerber folding knife and several other items before driving the 900 miles (1,400 km) to Florida. Early police reports indicated she wore diapers during the trip, but she later denied wearing them. On February 5, 2007, Nowak went to the Orlando International Airport, waited for about an hour in the baggage claim, and then proceeded to the airport parking lot, where she located and confronted Shipman, who had just arrived from Houston by plane.

Shipman said that after arriving, she was aware of someone following her to an airport satellite parking area. When she got into her car, she heard running footsteps and quickly locked the door. Nowak slapped the window and tried to open the car door, asked for a ride, then started crying. Shipman rolled down the window a couple of inches after which Nowak sprayed the pepper spray into the car. Shipman drove off to the parking lot booth where police were summoned. Several Orlando Police Department officers arrived minutes later, with the first officer observing Nowak throwing a bag into the trash at a parking shuttle bus stop. Nowak was subsequently arrested at Orlando International Airport on charges of attempted kidnapping, battery, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, and destruction of evidence. In a handwritten request for a restraining order against Nowak after her arrest, Shipman referred to Nowak as an acquaintance of a boyfriend but did not identify Oefelein, and also claimed Nowak had been stalking her for two months. Nowak told investigators she was involved in a relationship with Oefelein which she described as being "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship." Citing evidence of elaborate planning, disguises and weapons, police recommended she be held without bail.