Man, 26, breaches security at California's John Wayne Airport and steals tarmac tug for reckless airfield joyride near planes

From the Newshound archive · first published 8 October 2026 · last updated 9 October 2026.

A 26-year-old from Everett, Washington, breached a gate at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana and made off with an Alaska Airlines baggage tug, driving it recklessly across the airfield and reversing close to a parked aircraft. He then tried to take an American Airlines lavatory truck before airport police took him into custody. The incident unfolded at around 5:30pm on Tuesday. Delta, the carrier operating the Seattle flight he had been booked on, said it has zero tolerance for unlawful behaviour.