DAYTONA BEACH, FL - A Florida man was placed under arrest last week after he plowed through a gate at the Daytona Beach International Airport and attempted to board a small private plane that was taxiing.
NBC News reports that Bryan J. Parker, 58, of Holly Hill, Florida, drove through a gate in a Ford Mustang. ATC audio from LiveATC.net captured a transmission believed to be from the control tower saying, “We’ve got a vehicle on the airport that is doing donuts."
After stopping the Mustang on a taxiway, Parker exited the vehicle and began running toward a small Cessna 172 that was taxiing. When the aircraft stopped, Parker attempted to open the pilot’s side door, but was not successful.
Body camera video released by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office showed deputies speaking to Parker.
“What’s the deal, man?" The deputy asked.
“I don’t remember,” Parker replied. He was then handcuffed and seated on the ground.
He told deputies that he had been at home earlier, attending an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. He also admitted to drinking alcohol and using drugs before the incident. The jokes pretty much write themselves.
“I crashed my car,” Parker admitted in a vast understatement.
In a post on X, the sheriff’s office said it was notified at approximately 4:23 p.m. Wednesday about a blue Ford Mustang that crashed through a secure gate at the airport.
According to airport personnel, the car drove toward the portion of the airport occupied by the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the sheriff’s office reported. Witnesses said the car entered the taxiway and nearly struck the taxiing aircraft.
In a statement, airport officials said the driver drove onto a secondary runway, not the main one. Embry-Riddle University said it was “aware” of the incident and that its safety officers “responded immediately,” NBC reported.
Aside from the occupied aircraft, Parker also approached two other occupied planes and managed to briefly get inside.
“As Parker ran to other aircraft in the area, an airport operations technician chased him down, pulled him out of a plane, and sat him on his truck’s tailgate,” the sheriff’s office said. “However, Parker jumped off the tailgate and ran toward another plane before he was once again apprehended and placed in handcuffs.”
Airport officials said operations at Daytona Beach International were not affected.
Parker was booked into the Volusia County Branch jail on charges of attempted aircraft piracy, burglary of a conveyance, felony trespass, indecent exposure, criminal mischief, DUI with damage, and refusal to submit to DUI testing.
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