NEWARK, N.J., July 18 (UPI) -- Two trespassing incidents in the last week are raising questions about security at the New York area's airports.
On Saturday evening, a man with a knife in his pocket leaped over a barrier at a vehicle gate at Newark Liberty International Airport and ran onto the tarmac before an officer tackled him, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger.
Xiang Xun Shao, 39, was charged with defiant trespass and weapons possession.
Last Tuesday, Greg Rodriguez, 30, was swimming naked in Jamaica Bay off John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens and waded ashore near the main fuel tanks despite JFK's Perimeter Intrusion Detection System, police said. Police eventually spotted him on patrol and charged him with trespassing.
Both suspects were given psychiatric evaluations after their arrests.
Paul Nunziato, president of the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association, said the security breaches show a perilous overreliance on civilians and technology and a reluctance to post officers in vital locations.
