ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 3, 1996 TAG: 9601030065
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA, VA.
SOURCE: Associated Press
PROSECUTORS SAY he stole ammunition, grenades and night-vision gear from the FBI academy at Quantico.
FBI agent H. Gary Harlow's 25-year career came to an end after he was accused of breaking his wife's nose.
Tipped off by Harlow's wife, investigators found his rural home stocked to the rafters with government ammunition. Harlow then may have burned the place to the ground.
``What he had in there was an arsenal,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Bellows said at a hearing last month.
A federal judge on Tuesday sent theft charges against Harlow to a grand jury. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
``It's hard to imagine what happened,'' said Fauquier County Sheriff Joe Higgs. ``It all unraveled for him really quickly.''
Authorities portray Harlow, 48, as a vengeful, paranoid man with a history of violence and deceit, including an assault on his former wife and allegations that he stalked her. Harlow and his current wife, Barbara, have been married about a year.
Prosecutors say he stole 100,000 to 200,000 rounds of ammunition, grenades, night-vision gear and other high-tech equipment from the FBI training academy at Quantico, where he worked for 11 years as a firearms instructor.
Some of the seized ammunition was still in the original boxes, with shipping labels addressed to the academy, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court.
Federal authorities found the stockpile after Harlow and his wife fought last month. The affidavit says he threw Barbara Harlow on their bed and punched her in the face the night of Dec. 9.
Barbara Harlow went to a hospital, where a doctor reported her injuries to the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office.
She warned deputies that Harlow had a cache of weapons and ammunition he would not hesitate to use, Higgs said.
``We took her at her word,'' he said.
Thinking the house might be booby-trapped and Harlow lying in ambush inside, deputies waited outside. Harlow didn't answer the telephone or respond to demands to surrender, Higgs said. He ; Higgs believes he had been inside, but slipped out.
Harlow agreed to let FBI agents inside the house, where they found several hundred boxes of ammunition and other equipment including tear gas, SWAT team garb and missing FBI memorabilia, Bellows said.
It took six hours to catalog and remove the weaponry two days later, FBI agent Frank Barbero said.
Early Dec. 13, a few hours after agents had finished collecting the equipment, the home caught fire.. Firefighters, afraid of unexploded ammunition still inside, evacuated nearby houses and watched as the home burned to the ground. No one was injured.
While the house was smoldering, Harlow and his wife drove up, Higgs said. He was arrested and fired that night.
The FBI said Harlow was fired for faking interviews for his most recent posting, as a background investigator for government security clearances.
Neither Harlow nor his wife has been charged with arson, but they are the only suspects in the fire, the sheriff's office said. Authorities won't speculate on a motive.
Harlow is still charged with domestic assault, a misdemeanor that carries up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Barbara Harlow, 30, appeared with her husband in court on Tuesday. Neither would answer questions afterward.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Harlowby CNB