June 16, 1999
Web posted at: 9:32 p.m. EDT (0132 GMT)

In this story: Husband says he didn't know about her past Hearst saga sensational story of 1970s Soliah accused of putting bombs under police cars RELATED STORIES, SITES

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) -- An alleged member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, the 1970s radical group that gained fame by kidnapping newspaper heiress Patty Hearst, was arrested Wednesday after more than two decades in hiding.

Kathleen Ann Soliah, 52, who married a doctor and now has three daughters, was arrested on charges that she conspired with other members of the SLA to plant bombs and kill police officers in Los Angeles.

FBI officials said Soliah, who had been living under the alias Sara Jane Olson, was taken into custody at a stop sign while driving a mini-van near her home in St. Paul's fashionable Highland Park neighborhood.

Los Angeles police Det. Tom King, who was with the arresting officers, described Soliah as "surprised and relieved."

Last month, on the 25th anniversary of a shoot-out in Los Angeles in which six SLA members were killed, the FBI offered a $20,000 reward for Soliah's capture. She was also featured on an episode of the television program "America's Most Wanted," and tips from viewers led authorities to her.

Husband says he didn't know about her past

St. Paul police spokesman Michael Jordan said Soliah's husband, Gerald Peterson, has told authorities he was unaware of his wife's past. Her daughters are ages 12, 17 and 18.

"He had no idea what was going on here," Jordan said. "I feel sorry for the guy."

During her life in Minnesota, Soliah became involved in community theater and was described by one friend as a "great actress."

"It's not like she paraded around in a beret or anything," said Steve Antenucci, manager of Theater in the Round in Minneapolis, where Soliah performed in eight shows. "Everyone liked her. She was very nice, very intelligent and had a great sense of humor."

Her most recent performance -- for which she won an award -- was in a one-act play called "Tall Tales."

Neighbors describe her as a well-spoken and friendly woman, an avid jogger and gardener.

"She seemed very classy," said Gary Price, the neighborhood's regular mailman since 1983.

Hearst saga sensational story of 1970s

The leftist radicals of the SLA gained fame in 1974 when they kidnapped Hearst, then 19, from an apartment in Berkeley, California. They demanded that her wealthy parents, Randolph and Catherine Hearst, distribute $6 million worth of food to the needy to secure her return.

Hearst as SLA member "Tania"

Two months after the kidnapping, Hearst, who had adopted the name Tania, was photographed carrying a weapon during an SLA holdup of a San Francisco bank. After police captured Hearst in 1975, she claimed that she had been brainwashed into participating in the SLA's crimes.

Hearst's ordeal and trial became one of the most sensational news stories of the 1970s. She was convicted of bank robbery and served two years of a seven-year prison term before President Jimmy Carter commuted her sentence. Today, she's a married mother living in Connecticut.

"This is all so old," she told WCBS-AM radio when asked for a response to Soliah's arrest. "I don't want to be drawn into all of this."

Soliah accused of putting bombs under police cars

Soliah was indicted in 1976 by a Los Angeles grand jury on charges of conspiracy to commit murder of police officers and possession of explosives for allegedly placing pipe bombs under two police cars. The bombs did not go off.

The FBI has also accused her of committing other bombings and bank robberies as a member of the SLA.

King said Soliah left the United States at some point and lived in Africa for nine years. A warrant for her arrest drawn up in March said that her parents told the FBI in 1984 that she was living outside California, had a new identity, two children and was married to a man who knew both her true name and fugitive status.

It is unclear whether she was married to Peterson at the time.

The warrant, which also charged Soliah with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, said that in 1989 she attempted to negotiate a surrender through her lawyer. But those negotiations failed because she requested complete immunity.

At least one other former SLA member is still at large -- James Kilgore, Soliah's boyfriend during her SLA days. He was profiled on the same "America's Most Wanted" program, but FBI spokeswoman Coleen Rowley said Wednesday she wasn't aware of any leads on Kilgore.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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