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Truck smashes through wall into airport terminal

Man causes $250,000 worth of damage

Helen Coffey
Friday 20 December 2019 06:16 EST
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Video shows truck smash through wall at Florida airport baggage claim

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A man crashed a pick-up truck through the wall of an airport terminal in Florida, causing around $250,000 (£190,000) worth of damage.

CCTV footage shows the dramatic moment Juan Monsivis, 40, drove the vehicle straight through the wall of Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.

Staff at the car rental desk can be seen ducking down to avoid being hit by projectile debris.

Mr Monsivis was driving “at a high rate of speed”, airport President Fredrick Piccolo told CNN, when he bulldozed into the building, smashing into the counters and damaging conveyor belts, windows, doors and walls in the baggage reclaim area.

No one was seriously injured in the incident except Mr Monsivis himself, who is currently being treated at a local hospital.

Prior to the crash, he was seen driving recklessly on US Route 41 in the early hours of Thursday morning, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Mr Monsivis broke though the airport perimeter fence at about 3am on 19 December before targeting the terminal building.

The cause of the crash is currently being investigated, but is not believed to be alcohol-related.

Mr Monsivis has not yet been charged.

It follows a teenage girl breaking into Fresno Yosemite International Airport and stealing a plane before crashing it into a fence.

The unnamed 17-year-old breached the airport fence in California at around 7.30am local time on 18 December, according to local police.

She climbed into a King Air 200 small propeller plane and started driving it around in a circle.

While the jet never became airborne, “substantial damage” was sustained by the aircraft after the young woman crashed it into a fence, Vikkie Calderon, the airport’s public relations officer, told USA Today.

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