Officials: Half-dressed man runs out on airport taxiway
ATLANTA - Atlanta Police still don't know what compelled 19 year old Jhryin Jones to scale a razor-wire fence surrounding Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Tuesday afternoon.
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Stunned passengers aboard a flight that had just landed from Miami gasped as they Jones, who was only wearing underwear, exposed himself.
"We are definitely concerned. When we took him into custody his demeanor was not that of just your average normal person. So we're trying to figure out what led to this episode," said Atlanta Police Major Timothy Peek.
Wednesday, Major Peek told reporters Jones was spotted buy an airport employee scaling the 10-foot fence around 4:30 p.m. Police say it just run through a construction seen and jumped over another fence before Crossing Sullivan Road, located just south of the airport complex.
"We had lots of calls about it and he was picked up on some security cameras as well. I'm certainly disturbed at this happened, but I can tell you that he was in custody within 5 minutes of us being notified. And I think that means everything that was supposed to happen did happen in this case,"
Atlanta police charged Jones with criminal trespassing, public indecency, and obstruction of law enforcement officers.
"I haven't had the opportunity to measure exactly how long he was in the restricted area, but I can tell you one foot inside a restricted area is too far," said the Major.
FOX 5 viewer Garth Magness shared a video of the incident. It shows a half-clothed man running across the runway and taxiway to the plane and throwing his hands up in the air. Police said Jones had on Jean's when he initially scaled the security fence. Those jeans were on the tarmac when police took him into custody.
At one point the man sat down in the shade beneath the wing of the plane.
Another FOX 5 viewer also shared a video showing the 19-year-old approaching the plane and laying down in the middle of the taxiway. An officer with the Atlanta Police Department is then seen running up quickly to the man. The man is seen rolling over on to his stomach before the officer reaches him and handcuffs him without further incident.
Officials said there was no disruption to the overall operations at the airport. Major Peek said they are reviewing the security measures, but said there is no initial sign that drastic changes need to be made.
"What can stop a person from jumping offense? I don't know to be honest but the key is how to respond to the incident, five minutes is not a bad response time. Could we do better? It depends on the situation and the information we receive about the incident," said Major Peek.
Jones is in the Clayton County Jail on a $18,000 bond.