Accused impostor at bridge collapse appears in court

OWEN SOUND, Ontario -- A Missourian accused of posing as a military captain and taking control of rescue efforts after last month's deadly interstate bridge collapse in Oklahoma will remain jailed in Canada at least another week.

William Clark, arrested Sunday in Ontario as a U.S. fugitive with a rifle, made a brief court appearance Monday in this southwestern Ontario town.

He was not asked to enter a plea on Monday, and his case was deferred until next Monday.

Clark, of Tallapoosa in Missouri's Bootheel, had been sought by the FBI for showing up in Webbers Falls, Okla., within two hours of the Interstate 40 bridge collapse May 26 over the Arkansas River.

A barge struck the bridge, sending 10 vehicles into the river and killing 14 people.

Arkansas charges

At the time, Clark claimed he was a captain with U.S. Special Forces and was wearing a green beret, camouflage fatigues and shiny boots. Clark gave orders and media interviews at the scene.

In Canada, Clark is charged with a weapons count and with possessing a car reported stolen in Arkansas. Across the border, Clark is accused of renting eight hotel rooms in Van Buren, Ark., after the bridge accident, then skipping town without paying the $900 bill.

Relatives and investigators say Clark has a history of assuming false identities to gain free meals, free rooms or merchandise.

Clark was released Dec. 11 from the Central Missouri Correctional Center in Jefferson City, Mo., after serving three years for felony stealing, said Tim Kniest, the Missouri Department of Corrections' spokesman.

Clark was paroled in Sept. 1999 but absconded two months later before returning to prison in January 2001 to complete his sentence, Kniest said.

Clark also was placed on two years of probation in 1999 for passing bad checks in Butler County, Mo., just north of his hometown, Kniest said.