Authorities evacuated LaGuardia Airport's Central Terminal for several hours Saturday after a man with a bag containing wires and a battery entered the airport, a Port Authority spokesman said.The man is in custody, and authorities have allowed passengers back into the terminal after hours of delays, Port Authority spokesman John Kelly said.
Authorities identified the man as Scott McGann, 32, of New York.
McGann faces three charges: Placing a false bomb or hazardous substance, in the first degree; making terrorist threats; and placing a false bomb or hazardous substance in a transportation facility, said Meris Campbell, a spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney's office.
He could face up to seven years in prison if convicted, Campbell said.
McGann is likely to be arraigned Saturday night or Sunday, she said. It was unclear whether McGann had retained a lawyer.
A law enforcement official close to the investigation said McGann had tickets on a United Airlines flight to Chicago, as well as connecting flights that would have ended in Oakland, California.
The law enforcement source said the suspect approached a security checkpoint in the Central Terminal carrying a backpack.
"Affixed to the backpack in plain view were two six-volt square batteries taped together with wires protruding from the battery," the source said.
"McGann was told by Port Authority police not to move. He didn't comply and looked to try to push a switch and nothing happened," the source said.
The backpack also contained unspecified electronic devices and personal items, the source said.
The city's bomb squad was called in to examine the device, and determined that it was not dangerous, New York Police Department's Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Paul Browne said.
"It was a hoax device," he said.
Asked whether the suspect said anything about a bomb, Browne said, "Clearly, it appeared he wanted people to think that's what he had."
McGann has three prior arrests in the New York area, the source said. The most recent involved June charges of tampering with evidence and resisting arrest. He was also arrested twice in 2008, the source said.
Kelly said McGann "was just acting crazy."
The arresting officers described McGann to Kelly as "extremely disheveled and dirty," in a "near catatonic state" and "staring off into space," Kelly said. McGann had been homeless for at least 12 months, Kelly said.
McGann has not been psychologically evaluated since the arrest, but a judge would decide whether to order one, Kelly said.
McGann was taken into custody in Central Terminal, one of four terminals in the airport. LaGuardia is located in the borough of Queens, about eight miles from Manhattan.
Authorities evacuated the terminal after 5:20 a.m., and allowed passengers back in to all areas except Concourse C by midmorning, Kelly said.
The concourse was reopened shortly before 11 a.m., Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Holly Baker said. iReport: Watch crowds start moving back into the terminal
The airport's main control tower was evacuated around 6:20 a.m. A backup tower handled airport traffic control until 9:38 a.m., when the main control tower resumed operations, Baker said.
It was not known how many passengers were in the terminal at the time of the evacuation, but scores of them with luggage lined the roads outside the airport after the terminal and entrances were closed.
The incident disrupted travel plans for many passengers, and caused American Airlines to cancel 16 flights, said an airline spokesperson. American Eagle, Continental Airlines and Southwest also reported delays.
CNN iReporter Jose Ojeda, 24, who was sitting on the tarmac on a plane headed to Chicago, Illinois, when the evacuation was ordered.
"We were all ready to go," Ojeda, of Bronx, New York, said of his flight, which was scheduled to leave at 6:10 a.m.
"They didn't make any announcement other than, 'You need to evacuate,'" he said.
"I thought it was standard procedure, but then once we got out of the plane, they kept pushing us back and back, out of the terminal [and] out of the actual airport."
source : www.cnn.com
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