BALTIMORE, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Police say Edwin Hale, the chairman and CEO of First Mariner Bancorp, has been charged with bringing a loaded gun into the Baltimore airport.
Hale was charged with interfering with security procedures and violating security regulations and ordered to appear in court at a later date.
Hale, 64, told the Baltimore Sun he had a permit to carry the handgun and had forgotten to take it out of his briefcase before heading to Baltimore Washington International Airport on Friday.
Airport police chief Marcus Brown told the newspaper that Hale was detained until his gun permit was verified and the .38-caliber weapon was confiscated pending the outcome of his case.
Brown said Hale was not given preferential treatment even though he is also chairman of Baltimore's tourism bureau and meets regularly with the city's mayor and police commissioners.
