Officers Intervene Before Subject Can Get Aircraft Started

Someone would have to be high to break into an airport. One California man apparently was Tuesday, when he used his Mercedes-Benz to crash through a gate at Riverside Municipal Airport before attempting to steal a plane.

Authorities told the Los Angeles Times Orlando Brown, 25, showed signs of "stimulant drug use" when he was arrested for ramming his car through not only the gate, but two chain link fences about 0600 before checking out several small aircraft on the tarmac.

Brown apparently found one he liked... and tried, unsuccessfully, to turn the engine on. Police intercepted him before he could get it started, Riverside Police Department spokesperson Steven Frasher.

"Officers from the Riverside Police Department took Brown into custody before he was able to start or move the airplane," he said.

"Brown displayed objective symptoms of stimulant drug use and was in possession of drug paraphernalia."

Criminal charges are possible; Brown was transported to Riverside County Regional Medical Center for a 72-hour involuntary confinement, in accordance with a section of the state Welfare and Institutions Code that provides grounds for detaining potentially mentally ill subjects for observation, Frasher said.

FMI: www.riversideca.gov/airport