A shirtless man managed to break onto the airfield at Los Angeles International Airport early on Saturday morning and ran beside a taxiing American Airlines plane before he was eventually chased down by a police officer.
The early morning incident happened at around 6 am at Terminal 4 when the man somehow managed to get onto the tarmac dressed in only a pair of black shorts.
Police say the man suffered a mental health crisis while in the terminal and became irate before running onto the airfield. A police officer gave chase and eventually subdued the man by tasering him.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department explained: “During their attempt in taking the suspect into custody, a use of force occurred.”
The man was arrested for battery against a police officer but was later taken to the hospital for a mental health evaluation.
Mateusz Maszczynski honed his skills as an international flight attendant at the most prominent airline in the Middle East and has been flying ever since... most recently for a well known European airline. Matt is passionate about the aviation industry and has become an expert in passenger experience and human-centric stories. Always keeping an ear close to the ground, Matt's industry insights, analysis and news coverage is frequently relied upon by some of the biggest names in journalism.
The guy was obviously just out for a jog. No need to taze him.
In reality, he’s lucky he didn’t get shot. Props to the police for handling this well.