ROMULUS, Mich. (WXYZ) — A 67-year-old man is in custody after crashing an SUV into the Evans Terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Airport Friday morning, and neighbors say they witnessed hours of erratic behavior before the incident.
Watch Tony Geftos' video report:
The crash happened at about 9:40 a.m. at Door 4, the last entrance for departures at the terminal. Investigators say the driver went the wrong way toward the departure gates, then maneuvered through ADA-mandated gaps in the Jersey barriers. The SUV drove up over the sidewalk, crashed through the doors, and made it into the terminal, just short of the TSA checkpoint.
Airport police responded within seconds. No one was hurt.
Tadarial Sturdivant, Senior Vice President of Emergency & Support Services for the Wayne County Airport Authority, said the driver made a bizarre claim when he was taken into custody.
"He made a statement upon being apprehended that he was there to meet with Tom Cruise and to save his dad," Sturdivant said.
Temporary concrete barriers were installed at the terminal Friday afternoon following the crash.
The SUV is registered to a home in Southgate. Neighbors confirmed to 7 News Detroit that the driver lives next door to them and described a restless night in which the man tossed objects from his yard into theirs.
"He was tearing his fence down, and he was throwing all the wood in our yard, and his garbage cans, and his shovels. Everything he could find, he was throwing. He filled our window wells with bricks," Kathy Garvin said.
Several neighbors said they called police, who arrived only to find the man on his own property, claiming he was doing yardwork. Later in the morning, neighbors found him on their property.
"I called the cops at about 3:45. I said my neighbor's over here trying to stuff something under my truck. I yelled at him. He said he's throwing things away," Michael Noel said.
Ken Garvin, another neighbor, described the man's typical demeanor.
"He's normally a great guy. We get along, and he doesn't give us no problem, just today got a little weird," Garvin said.
Kathy Garvin said the incident left her shaken.
"I'm scared because I don't know what kind of condition he is really in, what is gonna take place next," she said.
Everyone who lives nearby described the man as occasionally having very public delusional episodes and said this time it clearly went too far.
It is not clear what charges, if any, the driver will face. The Evans Terminal remains open for travelers.
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