Chicago man charged with hopping fence naked, climbing onto plane at Midway Airport
CHICAGO - A 33-year-old Chicago man has been arrested after hopping a fence at Midway International Airport, and climbing onto a plane that was preparing to take off, police said.
According to police, Javier Martinez scaled a barbed wire fence, nude, in the 100 block of South Midway Airfield Street on Tuesday afternoon around 4:30 p.m. He then ran onto a runway and climbed the aircraft that was preparing to take flight, police said.
Martinez was arrested within 15 minutes, police said.
Martinez was charged with one felony count of criminal trespassing of a restricted area.
He is due in court on Thursday, police said.
Following the incident, Martinez was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and given a mental evaluation. Some witnesses told police he looked drunk.
"There appears to be a person, an unauthorized person walking... " a dispatcher said over the scanner. "He is on 1 3- center right now … any takeoffs or arrivals will need to go around."
"This guy is butt-naked right now," a pilot said. "He is right in front of us trying to get in."
The Department of Aviation said no planes had to be stopped or delayed but with Southwest jets taking off nearby the incident raises serious questions about security.
Wednesday morning, crews were busy repairing the damaged barbed wire where the man went over.
No additional information is available at this time.