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This Guy Got Lost at Miami's Airport and Somehow Wound Up on the Tarmac

He was arrested Monday after reportedly trying to take a shortcut by jumping a fence and sprinting across the runway.
Drew Schwartz
Brooklyn, US
Screengrab via WSVN

The airport is a goddamn nightmare this time of year. Brutal winter weather has wiped out hundreds of flights, left JFK flooded, and stirred up a horde of pissed-off passengers in its wake. With stress levels at an all-time high this travel season, it's no surprise that fed-up airport patrons around the country have started to take matters into their own hands.

A prime example: On Monday, police in Florida responded to a man who had somehow wound up sprinting across the tarmac at Miami International Airport, WSVN reports. At first, people were worried the incident was some kind of terrifying security breach, but it turns out that the guy was just lost.

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Miami-Dade Police said the man, who was spotted sprinting across the runways after hopping a fence, had been dropped off at the airport in the afternoon to fill out a job application, but apparently wound up in the wrong place. That's when he reportedly decided he had to scale the airport's perimeter, hop down onto the tarmac, and high-tail it across in what he claimed was a "shortcut," cops said.

The whole thing prompted cops to arrive in minutes, while local news channels sent choppers flying overhead to check out the scene. A handful of officers managed to track the man down and detain him, and he was cuffed, questioned, and then placed in the back of a cruiser.

According to CBS Miami, the FBI is helping local police get to the bottom of what went down on Monday, and authorities insist MIA isn't under any kind of threat. It's not clear what charges the guy could face for making a mad dash through a restricted airport area, or if his short-sighted determination will have any bearing on whether he gets the airport job or not.

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