The man who caused major delays at Newark Airport this past Sunday after being spotted by a bystander ducking under some ropes, to be with his lady friend, has been captured. 28-year-old Haisong Jiang (a molecular bioscientist-in-training) was taken into custody last night, according to the NY Times. The Port Authority said he is being charged with defiant trespass (he was released earlier today).
Jiang was seen on videotape, released earlier this week, not-so-stealthy slipping under a security rope to meet a woman (who was cleared by security). He was seen leaving the airport 20 minutes later on another camera. At the time the breach occurred Terminal C was placed on lockdown.
Senator Frank Lautenberg made a statement, saying, ''With this arrest, law enforcement will be able to take a closer look into how and why this incident occurred and make sure that it never happens again." However, the Transportation Security Administration worker who allegedly left his post, Ruben Hernandez, is being represented by the American Federation of Government Employees — and a spokesman said that he had just received a commendation for job performance. Let's not forget the TSA also took 80 minutes to call the breach in.
Jiang's roommate at Rutgers told the Post, "He didn't think it's a big deal, so he didn't mention it. We know that he's very excited to have a real woman. His girlfriend is very upset. I think she will be here in two days to face this with him."
