Passenger Steals Airport Tug, Crashes It, Then Tries to Take Another Truck

A passenger at a California airport was supposed to be catching a flight to Seattle. Instead, police say he took an airport tug for a drive across the airfield, crashed it, and then tried to steal another truck.

The incident happened at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana on October 6, around 5:30 p.m. According to a statement from the airport, the Delta Air Lines passenger went through Gate 12 and made his way onto the airfield.

Once outside, the man reportedly climbed into a baggage tug operated by Alliance Ground International and assigned to Alaska Airlines. He drove it around the airport before crashing into another vehicle near Gate 7.

The passenger wasn’t finished after the crash. Airport officials said he tried to take an American Airlines lavatory service truck before Airport Police Services arrested him.

Passenger Drives Stolen Tug Near Parked Airplane

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The whole thing was caught on video by Guadalupe Olayo, who recorded the man driving around the airfield. The footage shows the tug backing up near an Alaska Airlines plane.

At one point, an airport worker can be seen walking toward the vehicle while the driver maneuvers around the aircraft. The tug eventually drives away from the parked plane. Air traffic controllers were also trying to explain the situation to pilots.

The controller explained that someone had stolen a tug and that there had been a security breach. Although the controller mentioned a ground stop, it was reported that no official ground stop was issued.

Man Arrested After Trying to Take Second Airport Vehicle

The passenger was identified as 26-year-old Skyler Jay Barr of Everett, Washington. He was taken into custody by Airport Police Services and transported to a local hospital for evaluation.

According to FOX 11’s October 8 report, Barr was charged with felony vehicle theft and vandalism, along with misdemeanor trespassing at an airport security inspection. The airport told Fox News that there were no impacts to operations. However, ABC7 reported that flights were briefly halted and the Gate 7 area was closed for about 10 minutes.

Delta also provided a statement to Fox News, saying it had zero tolerance for unlawful behavior and was cooperating with law enforcement. Police haven’t publicly explained why Barr went onto the airfield or tried to take the two vehicles.