"Man Flees Tampa Airport Checkpoint"

Tuesday, April 2, 2002

Man Flees Tampa Airport Checkpoint
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


A terminal at Tampa International Airport was evacuated for about three
hours Tuesday when a passenger grabbed his carry-on luggage from a
checkpoint and fled after a security official thought he saw a pistol in the
bag.

It was one of several security incidents at airports in the region in recent
days.

Twenty-four flights were delayed at Tampa and about 1,000 people were
evacuated from the satellite terminal during the search for the man, airport
officials said. He was not caught.

Elsewhere in Florida, a woman was arrested at Miami International Airport
after she crashed her pickup truck through a security gate on Monday, scaled
a 10-foot barbed wire fence surrounding a restricted area and boarded a
plane that was being cleaned in a hangar.

According to the arrest report, members of the cleaning crew described Tanya
Polese as ``hysterical'' and said she believed she was fleeing from people
who wanted to kill her.

Polese, 31, was ordered jailed without bail pending a psychological
evaluation.

Miami police also arrested a man who they said assaulted flight attendants
and screamed obscenities on an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles
late Monday.

The man, whose identity was not released, appeared to be under the influence
of alcohol and prescription drugs, said airline spokeswoman Mary Frances
Fagan.

Officials in Louisiana said a man carried eight knives and two pairs of
scissors past a checkpoint Sunday at the New Orleans airport, then was
allowed to board a plane before he was taken into custody. Most of the
knives and scissors were found when the man was picked for a random search
at the gate, and the others were found after he was taken off the plane,
said Acting U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.

``There is no way I can whitewash this. I and other law enforcement
officials are profoundly disturbed about this,'' Letten said.

Albert Silvarian, 42, was charged with attempting to board an aircraft with
dangerous weapons, which carries up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000
fine. He did not immediately enter a plea.

The knives and all but one pair of scissors were still in store packaging,
officials said. ``This is clearly not an act of terrorism,'' said defense
lawyer Ralph Capitelli.

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