Crash and burn

Earlier this fall, Dan Schroeder and his wife Lisa gave Union-Tribune real estate writer Roger Showley a VIP tour of their extravagant new La Jolla abode. Showley’s October 30 story described “a marvel in concrete, steel and glass that is understated at the entrance gate and grows in awe as you proceed from room to room and floor to floor.” Inside was “a truly great room — dining room, kitchen and sunken living room — the floor paved here (and throughout the house) in fossilized sandstone from Arizona Tile, the ceiling paneled in polished Douglas fir and the walls covered in anigre, an African hardwood the color of caramel with a slight scent akin to cedar.” A ten-foot-long “linear fireplace” was built in Langley, British Columbia, and shipped to the site. “What we had to do was rent a crane, cut the roof out and crane it in because it was so big and heavy,” noted a contractor. The sloping roof is made of Rheinzinc, an alloy of copper, zinc and titanium (appropriate since Dan is the owner of locally based Western Titanium, Inc.).”

But last week, Schroeder’s saga took a new turn when he and his company were indicted for conspiracy and fraud in connection with allegedly falsifying quality certifications of titanium aircraft parts sold for use in Air Force F-15 and F-22 fighter jets, as well as C-17 cargo planes and the NASA Kepler spacecraft. “Because of this thorough investigation, the Air Force was able to take swift action to protect not only our F-15s, but avoid potential casualties and property losses,” David L. Senness, special agent in charge for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, said in a written statement. (The crash last week of a Marine Corps F/A-18D Hornet into a University City neighborhood is still under investigation and has not of yet been linked to inferior parts.)