FIT Student Arrested For Trying To Steal Airplane (Melbourne, FL) -- A Florida Institute of Technology student is facing charges for trying to steal an airplane at Orlando-Melbourne International Airport. The 22-year-old was arrested yesterday after apparently jumping a fence before boarding an American Airlines Airbus that was out of service.
The charges against Trinidad and Tobago's Nishal Sankat include criminal trespassing and violating his visa, but no terrorism charges have been filed. Terrorism has not been ruled out, though, and the FBI is involved in the investigation.
Two airport workers are being praised as heroes for stopping Sankat. A maintenance worker inside the plane confronted him and, with the help of another worker, held the 22-year-old while police were called. Sankat was able to break free, but he was caught by two airport police officers. Florida Today reports he was moving back toward the targeted airplane.
UCF Finds More Money Was Misspent (Orlando, FL) -- UCF's mishandling of state money runs deeper than originally thought. The school announced yesterday that it has found another 10 million dollars that was misspent and there's another four million that may have been similarly misspent.
This is on top of the 38 million for operations that was used illegally for building the new Trevor Colbourn Hall. CFO Bill Merck resigned last week when the state found the money was misspent for the academic building.
Kidnapping Suspect Killed Near MIA (Miami, FL) -- A suspect wanted for a kidnapping and a hate crime is dead after a shootout with law enforcement officers in Miami-Dade County. The shooting happened late last night near Miami International Airport. The FBI, FDLE and police from Miami and Miami-Dade were involved in the search for the suspect, but it's not clear which officers were responsible for firing the deadly shots. There's no word on how many shots were fired, but one witness tells the Miami Herald it was like a war.
Uber Driver Arrested For Kidnapping (Tallahassee, FL) -- An Uber driver is accused of holding her passenger against her will in Tallahassee. Destiny Green is charged with kidnapping for this week's incident that ended when 19-year-old Brooke Adkins climbed out a window to escape.
Police say the Adkins asked Green several times to let her out, but Green refused. The passenger recorded the incident on her phone and handed the video over to police.
Woman Assaults Guard With Pigeon (Fairfax, VA) -- Virginia authorities have arrested a woman at the Social Security Administration for pulling a knife on a security guard and hitting him with a pigeon. Fairfax County Police say 56-year-old Laurie Weaver of New York was arrested without incident Tuesday morning.
Weaver was reportedly yelling at employees at the Social Security offices when the security guard approached her. She allegedly hit him with her fanny pack and then threatened him with a knife. Police were called, and found a live pigeon inside the woman's fanny pack. The guard was unhurt, and the pigeon was taken to a local animal shelter.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
1993, Steven Bochco's crime drama "NYPD Blue" first aired on ABC.
1989, Hurricane Hugo hit Charleston, South Carolina, and caused an estimated eight-billion-dollars damage.
1970, "Monday Night Football" debuted on ABC. Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and Keith Jackson made up the show's first broadcast team.
1954, the U.S. submarine, the "Nautilus," was commissioned. It became the first nuclear submarine.