SEATTLE — A West Seattle man has been charged with assault and malicious mischief for a security breach at Sea-Tac Airport earlier this month; the entire event was caught on security cameras.
The incident happened Nov. 8. KIRO 7 requested the surveillance video and received it Thursday.
The video shows a man in a gray sweatshirt jump over the security barrier and run right past TSA screeners.
It happened so fast that it took TSA agents by surprise.
Investigators say the man in the video is 28-year-old Ryan VanHoutte of West Seattle. According to police, VanHoutte made it all the way to the D Concourse, out emergency exit doors and down a jet way where he broke a window and then boarded a plane.
The empty American Airlines plane was getting ready to board for a flight to Miami. When police caught up with him, he had his seatbelt on in first class. Investigators say VanHoutte fought with police, but they eventually got him handcuffed. A passenger took a picture of him being carried off the plane.
We showed the video to people at Sea-Tac Airport Thursday.
“That’s crazy. The response of him going through that area was so slow he’s able to make it all the way through,” said Brad Crauer.
His brother agreed, “Really bold. I’m actually surprised the response wasn’t quicker,” added Dirk Crauer
VanHoutte is still in jail after the incident two weeks ago. Friends say he suffers from mental illness.
Court documents say VanHoutte is locked up in the mental health area of the jail. If he bails out he is not allowed at Sea-Tac Airport. No one seems to know why he went to the airport Nov. 8.
KIRO
