"After chase at Philadelphia airport, man to be tried in federal court"

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

After chase at Philadelphia airport, man to be tried in federal court
By Joseph A. Slobodzian
The Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer


The Chadds Ford man arrested March 1 after driving his SUV through a gate
and onto a runway at Philadelphia International Airport will be prosecuted
in federal court.

R. Kerry Kalmbach, the attorney for Kenneth Richard Mazik, said he expected
Mazik to have an initial appearance later this week before a federal
magistrate judge in Philadelphia.

Mazik, 24, was to have had a preliminary hearing Monday in Philadelphia
Municipal Court, but the hearing was aborted after it was announced he would
be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Mazik was being held on $1 million bail after being charged with driving
under the influence, resisting arrest, aggravated assault, drug possession,
and other state charges.

The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office has withdrawn those charges now
that Mazik is to be prosecuted in federal court.

The federal complaint charges Mazik with using an automobile to damage
airport facilities and disrupt airport operations.

On March 1, Mazik crashed a Jeep Grand Cherokee through a locked gate at the
airport and sped at more than 100 miles an hour. A plane was behind the
Jeep, about 500 feet above the runway, preparing to land, before air-traffic
controllers ordered it into a holding pattern.

While Mazik led airport police on a chase along several runways, air-traffic
controllers diverted 75 planes into holding patterns and prevented the
departures of 80 other aircraft.

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