Half-naked man is arrested after running onto tarmac at the Los Angeles airport
The passenger ‘became irate’ before running onto the airfield at LAX over the weekend
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A shirtless passenger was arrested after running across the airport tarmac in Los Angeles and toward a plane.
The incident occurred around 6am Saturday after the man, who was experiencing a mental health crisis, “became irate” and managed to escape Terminal 4. He then ran out onto the airfield at Los Angeles International Airport, Police Captain Karla Rodriguez with the Los Angeles Airport Police Department told CBS.
The airport police say they responded and “a use of force occurred” to take the man into custody.
In cell phone footage obtained by KCAL, the shirtless man, who has not been named by authorities, could be seen sprinting near an American Airlines aircraft with an officer running behind him.
Once the man reaches a JetBlue aircraft, the officer catches up with the passenger and tackles on the airport’s tarmac.
The man was arrested for battery against a police officer and was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation, Rodriguez said.
A similar incident occurred in February at LAX, after a man left through one of the security doors at the Tom Bradley International Terminal and started to sprint near a runway. When officers tried to detain him, the suspect did not cooperate, so they had to use “less-than-lethal force” to take him into custody, according to ABC7.
The suspect in the February inccident suffered minor injuries and was taken to hospital.
Saturday’s Los Angeles incident comes less than a month after an innocent elderly woman was knocked out and left unconscious at LAX during a violent road rage fight.
Jasan Givens Sr. and another man, whom police have not identified, were in a fight outside the airport around 9:30am on May 31 when the two men chased each other into a drop-off lane. The unidentified elderly woman was checking her luggage on the curb as the fight continued in her direction.
Dramatic video from LAX security cameras shows the woman innocently standing near the curb when the two men come running over and knock her down, causing her to immediately hit the ground and lose consciousness.
Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics transported the woman to the hospital in critical condition.
The innocent bystander has since been released from the hospital, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.