The Nation : Florida Battles Robbers

Gov. Bob Graham of Florida ordered 85 additional police officers backed by two helicopters to protect a five-mile stretch of Florida’s busiest highway against highwaymen who mug and terrorize motorists. Armed robbers have ambushed nearly 100 motorists since Jan. 1 on a five-mile stretch of Interstate 95 between Miami and Fort Lauderdale. No one has been killed but several victims have been injured. Graham’s plan also includes repairs to street lights along the highway that have been sabotaged by the robbers, cutting away undergrowth where they hide and the assignment of more decoy units of undercover police posing as stranded motorists.