Florida Man Arrested After Airport Breach and Plane Attempts

A 58-year-old man from Holly Hill, Florida, was arrested Wednesday afternoon after driving a blue Ford Mustang through a security gate at Daytona Beach International Airport and attempting to board multiple aircraft on the airfield, authorities said.

The incident unfolded around 4:25 p.m. near the airport's international terminal, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. Bryan J. Parker plowed through the locked perimeter gate, destroying it and his vehicle in the process, before heading toward the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University section of the airfield. Witnesses reported that Parker's car veered onto a taxiway and nearly struck an Embry-Riddle plane that was actively taxiing at the time.

Parker, who officials described as highly intoxicated, exited the wrecked Mustang and approached an occupied airplane with its engines running. He tried to enter the locked aircraft but was unsuccessful. He then ran to two unoccupied planes nearby and briefly gained access to at least one of them. Airport operations staff and Embry-Riddle security personnel quickly intervened, chasing Parker as he fled between the aircraft.

An airport operations technician pursued Parker, pulled...