What to Know
- A woman managed to breach a guard post at NJ's Teterboro Airport and drive across two active runways before ditching her car and running
- She fled into the woods and was later found hiding in a random person's backyard, sources say; charges are pending against her
- "The incident is being investigated to determine how to best prevent a recurrence," the Port Authority said in a statement
A 32-year-old woman managed to drive her car into Teterboro Airport and across two active runways Tuesday morning before fleeing into the woods and hiding in the backyard of someone's home, airport sources and officials say.
The Port Authority said the woman, in an unauthorized vehicle, tailed an authorized vehicle through a security gate before the guard could stop her around 9:35 a.m. Tuesday. She drove across one runway, then another before ditching the vehicle and running into the woods.
Police found her in the backyard of a house on Jackson Place in Moonachie and took her into custody. Sources said the woman, who has at least one DUI conviction on her record, did not know the homeowners.
A neighbor who saw the woman in the backyard of the home across his street told News 4 Tuesday, "She was barefoot the entire time. She was barefoot here, 'cause then they removed her from that one vehicle and put her in a different vehicle -- definitely had no shows on that I saw right in front of my house."
Charges are pending against the woman, whose identity was not immediately released.
Port Authority officials say there were no planes on the runways at the time of the beach and no impact to airport operations. They say the airport guard who saw her car move through the gate immediately notified Port Authority Police and they, in tandem with operational staff, launched a pursuit.
The woman was found shortly thereafter.
"The incident is being investigated to determine how to best prevent a recurrence," the Port Authority's statement said.
