LAX is hit by third security breach in three months: Man poses as custodian to sneak through security and onto airfield before fleeing
- Police are hunting for a suspect who dressed as a custodian and snuck through security at Los Angeles International Airport, walking onto the airfieldĀ
- It marks the second security breach reported at the airport in two days
- On Sunday, a homeless man sneaked aboard an empty American Airlines plane
- In June, police chased a man through the airfield as planes were flying in and out
- John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California, also had a case on Friday of a man sneaking through the gate, stealing a car, and then fleeing on footĀ
Police are hunting for a man who posed as a custodian to sneak through Los Angeles International Airport security and walk onto the airfield before he was spotted and fled the scene.
Cops shared images of the man on Monday in the hopes of tracking down the infiltrator who sneaked past security in May.Ā
News of the security breach emerged just days afterĀ a homeless man sneaked into an empty American Airlines plane on Sunday.
While in June, an unidentified driver crashed his speeding car through a gate and onto the runway.
In May's breach, the suspect had slipped on a custodian's high-vis jacket to pass through security.Ā
The man was spotted entering the Los Angeles International Airport on May 18, right, before changing into a custodial uniform to sneak past security
'The suspect posed as a custodial worker to pass through security, then changed clothes before entering the airfield,' according to an LAPD statement.
'When confronted, the suspect fled on foot by climbing an airfield fence to escape.'Ā
Investigators described the man to around 25 years old, light-skinned, 6ft. tall, 165lbs., with brown hair and eyes, CBS reported.Ā Ā
He was last seen wearing a black hooded jacket with gray stripes on the arms and the number 84 on the front left chest area.Ā
He also wore a yellow work vest, blue jeans, and black shoes with a white stripe.Ā
Police did not say what the suspect did while in the airport's restricted area, and they have yet to publicly identify a suspected motive.Ā
An American Airlines cleaning crew apprehended the Michael Maine inside the plane
On Sunday, Matthew Maine, 31, was arrested and charged with trespassing after he crawled under a security fence at the airportĀ and boarded an empty American Airlines plane before being restrained by a cleaning crew.Ā
Cops claim that at around 4:45am, the homeless man used a pipe to pry up a portion of the fence surrounding the airfield, and gained access to the tarmac.Ā Ā
And in June, a driver crashed his speeding car through a gate and led police on a chase over two runways while planes were landing and taking off at LAX.Ā
The driver had the words SOS, written on the hood of the car.Ā Ā
The driver was spotted crashing past a gate onto the airfield
Police chased the suspect over two lanes, Runway 25R and Runway 25L where planes were landing and taking off
Police were able to stop the vehicle, which had SOS written on the hood
The incident was the second one to occur at LAX this year
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'A determined person is going to not be deterred and test those measures,' said Bryan Del Monte, president of The Aviation Agency told CBS. 'That's where counter-measures become critical.'Ā
Del Monte said he believed the different layers of security at the airport performed as expected.
'The fact that these guys were caught, and the one guy was chased off, and now he's on the lam while the cops are looking for him, that proves the system is working,'
LAX is not the only California airport to experience recent breaches.Ā
Last Friday, Johnny Hecker, 51, of San Diego allegedly breached terminal security at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, and stole a vehicle on the tarmac before abandoning it and running away on foot, the CBSLA reported.Ā
The incident had snarled airplane traffic at the airport, and police were initially unable to find Hecker before discovering he had climbed up and was hiding in the terminal ceiling above its ticketing area.Ā
Jeff Price, a former assistant director of security at Denver International Airport told CBSLA that despite the breaches, airport security was still effective.Ā Ā
'The system the way it is now, people will be able to access the airfield illegally but as long as we can catch them, as long as they donāt get to an airplane then the system has functionally worked, one layer might have failed but other layers succeeded,' he said.Ā Ā
It was not the first time airport security in the US had been breached over the past week. Last Friday Johnny Hecker, 51, (pictured) allegedly breached terminal security at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana. He was able to avoid police by hiding out in the terminal ceiling
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