A Nevada couple accused of driving into a highly restricted federal testing site with a firearm in an unregistered vehicle says the episode was nothing more than a wrong turn.
Jessica Zamora, 26, and Treyvon Currie, 31, allegedly traveled about 300 feet into the US Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site, or NNSS, in North Las Vegas on August 5, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed August 26 and reviewed by Our News Outlet.
The complaint, which cites testimony from FBI Special Agent Nick Baranishyn, claims the pair passed “multiple signs” warning that unauthorized entry was banned and that firearms were prohibited on the property before they were stopped at a gate.
Security officers then conducted a brief inquiry and determined that Zamora and Currie were in an unregistered Saturn sedan and that a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol was inside a bag, despite neither of them having a concealed carry permit, the complaint said.
Federal authorities pointed to several details in the filing that they said showed unusual behavior and established probable cause to charge the couple with attempted entry by fraud on real property of the United States with intent to commit a felony.
Zamora and Currie were also each charged with possession of a firearm in a federal facility, unauthorized entry onto DOE property and unauthorized introduction of a dangerous weapon onto DOE property.
Even so, Zamora’s attorney, Chris Rasmussen, has argued that the incident at the Nevada National Security Site was simply a misunderstanding. Court records indicate Currie does not appear to have retained an attorney.
“I think they were just lost and drove up to the facility,” Rasmussen told Our News Outlet. “I didn’t think there’s any question that they’re not involved in any type of espionage or trying to enter this facility.”
A couple has been accused of attempting to ender this top-secret federal testing facility in North Las Vegas while driving an unregistered car with a gun inside
Jessica Zamora, 26, and Treyvon Currie, 31, are facing several federal charges for the attempted entry. Zamora’s lawyer has argued that the couple simply took a wrong turn
The couple was stopped at a gate at the federal facility, where security officers searched their car and recovered this Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol
‘Knowing these people, knowing where they live in Las Vegas, knowing their income levels, knowing their background, to consider them somehow attempting to enter some kind of secret facility, it doesn’t [make sense]. For what purpose,’ he said.
There are three NNSS facilities in Nevada, but the one Zamora and Currie are accused of entering is located at 232 Energy Way, which is just eight miles north of the Las Vegas Strip.
The DOE’s website states that the mission of the facilities ‘includes support for the NNSA stockpile stewardship program, which includes performing subcritical experiments in support of nuclear weapons and storing special nuclear materials.’
‘Other activities include environmental management, national security response, and defense and civil technologies,’ the website also states.
The criminal complaint against Zamora and Currie accused the couple of providing strange answers to officers’ questions and behaving in a manner that concerned authorities.
When the couple was questioned at the gate where they were stopped, they said that they were not employees at the facility but were following another car inside ‘for an unspecified purpose,’ according to the complaint.
When the security officer asked who the couple was following, Currie told him two names: Damien Frazier and Ashley Jenkins, the complaint said.
The officer ran the names but neither matched with employees at the facility. When he told the couple there was no match for the names, Currie allegedly began reaching under his seat and towards other parts of the car.
The couple is accused of trying to enter the US Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site in North Las Vegas on August 5. It was one of three such facilities in the state
The facilities conduct nuclear weapon experiments and store special nuclear materials. One of the facilities outside Las Vegas is pictured
The officer quickly asked if there was a gun in the vehicle, to which Currie allegedly replied yes. The officer immediately ordered him to stop moving, and Zamora told another officer who came to assist that the weapon was in a bag at her feet.
The security officers secured the weapon, ordered the couple to get out of the car and searched the vehicle.
Inside, they found a memorial card for Damien Frazier, which was one of the names Currie allegedly gave the officer. Frazier had died several weeks earlier, according to the complaint.
The security officers called Las Vegas police to assist. Officers with the department ran Zamora and Currie’s names through their system and determined the two had ‘notification flags’ related to an investigation into a non-fatal shooting days earlier.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department then took custody of the couple and interviewed them about the shooting, according to the criminal complaint.
Currie and Zamora allegedly admitted to their involvement during the interview. Surveillance footage outside a store captured Currie shooting 12 rounds at a man who was running away after the two got into an argument, the complaint said.
Zamora could then allegedly be seen picking up spent shell casings in the footage.
Both members of the couple said that the Smith & Wesson used in that shooting was the same gun they had brought with them to the federal facility, the complaint said.
Zamora’s attorneys said that it makes no sense for the couple to have been attempting to enter the top-secret federal facility. Men in hazmat suits outside one of the facilities are pictured
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Rasmussen, Zamora’s attorney, told Our News Outlet that his client was released from federal custody without conditions and will likely at most face probation for her federal charges related to entering the DOE facility.
He also said that although he understands the couple’s behavior as described in the criminal complaint is ‘odd,’ he is ‘hoping it’s recorded so we can see what exactly was said and what the context was.’
As for the inclusion of the alleged shooting in the criminal complaint, Rasmussen said authorities were trying ‘to color it up.’
Clark County Detention Center records indicate that Currie was booked into the jail on August 10 on state-level charges related to the shooting. He was given a $5,000 bond, but it is unclear whether he has been released.
Currie was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, discharging a gun into an occupied structure and five counts of discharging a gun where persons might be endangered.
Zamora does not appear to have been booked into the jail or charged with any crimes related to the shooting, according to the jail’s records.
