When I first heard about this story, I was really expecting it to be a Florida Man thing, but for once, it wasn’t.
It was a New Jersey Man thing.
A prisoner who was in custody at Newark Liberty International Airport escaped by telling the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers with him that he needed to use the men’s room. He was taken to a restroom at Terminal C, where he “disappeared” while inside. Authorities are said to believe he hid in the ceiling.
The man, Constantino Coffie, had been arrested by CBP and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) because the 40-year-old U.S. citizen was attempting to leave the country even though he had been indicted on drugs charges and was prohibited from leaving the state due to an upcoming trial.
Officers had escorted Coffie to Terminal C for processing when he asked to use the restroom and subsequently attempted to escape into the ceiling.
CBP agents spent the next hour or two climbing into air ducts, vents and open spaces in the ceiling. They eventually found Coffie in the ductwork of the airport, and the Port Authority Police Department’s Emergency Services Unit had to cut both Coffie and the officer out of the space they were in.
“The incident resulted in minimal operational impact to Newark Liberty International Airport,” a Port Authority spokesperson said.
It wasn’t clear how Coffie managed to get into the ceiling without the officers’ awareness but I suspect someone’s head is going to roll.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
