A man who reportedly was seen with a machete drove through a security gate and onto a taxiway Sunday morning at Springfield-Branson National Airport before fleeing into the terminal building, where he was arrested.
Gary Eugene Edwards, 58, is in the Greene County Jail facing charges of property damage and resisting/interfering with arrest for a felony. Both charges are Class E felonies, the least serious felony charge.
He also has been charged with trespassing, a class B misdemeanor.
According to court documents, an air traffic controller reported seeing a man on a nearby airport road walking around a pickup truck with a machete.
An airport police officer responded. He was observing the man on a camera feed when the suspect got in the truck and drove through a security gate and onto the airstrip area.
The airport has had its own police department since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the nation.
The damage to the airport gate is estimated to be at least $30,000
He runs into terminal, chased by police
The officer got into his vehicle and — with lights and siren activated — pursued the driver of the pickup, allegedly Edwards, onto the airstrip.
“He was driving east on taxiway E and I got in front of him to cut him off,” the officer wrote. “He swerved and drove in the grass. I followed as he drove back out the damaged vehicle gate.
“He drove to the shuttle lot of the terminal and drove over several curbs to get to the front of the terminal where he parked and ran in the terminal towards the TSA screening check point.”
The officer, joined by a Greene County sheriff's deputy, chased the suspect in the terminal. He eventually stopped and was arrested.
“He did not disrupt anything,” said Kent Boyd, airport spokesman. “It started at about 10:15 a.m., which is a point in the day when there isn't much going on.”
Edwards had two prior contacts with airport police before Sunday, Boyd said.
“He showed up last week and said there was somebody after him to get him,” Boyd said. “The second time he was here he said he was waiting for his girlfriend to arrive by plane.”
No one showed up, Boyd said, and Edwards left after being told he was trespassing.
A machete was never found, Boyd said. It's not clear if there ever was one, he added.
No address was listed for Edwards. A man of the same name — including middle name and same age — once lived in Iowa, according to a national database.
