Man held after trek onto runway

But TIA officials say the airport's security plan worked because the man was confronted quickly.

By BRADY DENNIS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 28, 2003

TAMPA -- Earlier this month, a felon wandered through an open gate and across a runway at Tampa International Airport, getting within 100 feet of a Southwest Airlines jet before a maintenance worker stopped him.

Officials said Patrick Demetris Williams, 28, strolled through a gate near a Delta maintenance hangar about 3:45 a.m. on Feb. 8. The gate is off Westshore Boulevard, near Drew Park.

Williams crossed a taxiway, officials said, and ended up near Airside A, which is served by Southwest, Northwest and Continental, among other airlines.

That's when Steven Vandegrift, a maintenance repair leader in the air-conditioning shop, saw him.

"He was just walking," Vandegrift said Thursday. "It was out of place. I called him over and asked him if he had his badge or identification with him."

"He said no," Vandegrift said. "He just said he was looking for a job. That was sign No. 1 that he wasn't sure where he was."

Airport spokeswoman Brenda Geohagan said that even though Williams breached airport property, the incident proves security at the airport is solid.

"This is definitely a case where our system worked," Geohagan said. "(Vandegrift) challenged this individual. He did the right thing. He called the police."

Geohagan said that Delta, not airport officials, was responsible for not closing the gate.

"In the overall security plan, it was their responsibility to secure their area," she said. "Their facility has to be secure all hours of day or night."

Airport police decided not to charge Williams with trespassing because "the gate was open and there weren't any "No Trespassing' signs in the vicinity," according to reports. They also said he appeared "to be a confused homeless man and did not know he was on an airfield."

Instead, they arrested him on an outstanding warrant of violating probation on an auto theft conviction. State records show that Williams has eight arrests in Florida on charges ranging from trespassing to marijuana possession.

Geohagan said Thursday she isn't sure if Delta has improved security at the gate or added trespass warning signs. Delta officials in Atlanta could not be reached for comment.

The incident marks the second time this year that someone has breached security at a local airport.

In January, a 40-year-old man slipped onto the ramp area of the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, boarded a 737 and sat down in the 10th row before a mechanic confronted him.

The man, who like Williams was disoriented, was taken into custody on a trespassing charge. He later was released from the Pinellas County Jail on his own recognizance.

-- Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report.

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