AP: 4 Security Fence Breaches At Detroit Metro Airport In 2 Years

ROMULUS (AP) - The security fences and perimeter gates at Detroit Metropolitan Airport have been breached four times in the past two years, an Associated Press investigation shows.

And Detroit is hardly alone. Nationally, at least 268 such breaches occurred at 31 major U.S. airports between January 2004 and January 2015, AP found.

Incidents ranged from fence jumpers taking shortcuts and intoxicated drivers crashing through barriers to mentally ill intruders looking to hop flights. None was terrorism-related.

Airports say breaches are relatively rare. Security measures typically include fences, cameras and patrols, but there are gaps. Not all of the miles of fences are routinely patrolled or covered by video surveillance.

Incidents at the airport in Romulus occurred:

- April 5, 2013: A man drove through a checkpoint after the gate arm was raised to let a service vehicle out. He parked at a hangar and ran inside. Delta Air Lines employees pinned him down. Arresting officers described him as "extremely incoherent and confused."

- Oct. 27, 2013: A 20-year-old woman walked through an exit gate after a car drove out. She dropped a purple backpack and ran away. Police caught her and found three knives and six road flares in her backpack.

- April 20, 2014: A woman smashed through a security fence, rolling her Dodge Durango several times. Uninjured, she got a ride home, where police later arrested her. The fence was open for about 45 minutes before officials responded.

- Sept. 21: A passenger in a construction truck was allowed onto the airfield without a visitor badge.

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