Just before 1 a.m. on Monday, a man drove a golf cart on the moving walkway inside the terminal at Buffalo airport. Along the walkway, he crashed into and damaged multiple glass panels.
Police report that 29-year old Kevin Sinning from Wyoming was “visibly intoxicated.” He found an unattended airport cart with keys left in it. And he took it to use as if it were an amusement ride. He was arrested at the end of the walkway, once the ride was over.
The man has been charged with criminal mischief; disorderly conduct; criminal possession of stolen property; criminal nuisance and grand larceny.
Airport vehicle joyrides are rare but not unheard of, usually involving unattended luggage carts, tugs, or maintenance vehicles. Airports enforce locking mechanisms or require drivers to remove keys. Many airports equip vehicles with tracking to alert operations when they travel outside of approved areas. However, here it was driven inside of an approved area – sort of.
Theft and destruction of property inside of an airport will always end badly, given the extensive surveillance and law enforcement presence there.
(HT: Joe R)
As far as ‘Sinning’ goes, that ain’t too bad, but, of course, don’t do this…
Airport security is no joke. Taking a joyride like this in such a high-surveillance area was bound to end in cuffs. Hope this is a lesson to others with bad ideas and free time.
https://www.akacorptech.com/
Book ‘em, Dano!
So, did he arrive drunk and security just let him pass, or did he get drunk at an airport bar while the bartender happily kept taking his money. Neither excuses his action, but the airport is also at fault for not identifying the issue earlier.
At least he didn’t hit any people… that’s more than you can say for the professional golf cart drivers at certain other airports.
@Ron , Buffalo has no airport bars open past 8pm and TSA at Buffalo closed at 7pm.
This man was on a delayed flight if the 1am time stamp is accurate from the story. So it’s entirely possible he brought his own booze in mini bottles and drank them while waiting for the delays…
As I said in an airport TY meltdown video (TPA airport) when did airports begin to double as insane asylums, drug dens/shoot up sites, jails, homeless shelters and adult day care centers.
and to think that this is one of the rare times of the year when he could have done this outdoors in Buffalo.
that won’t go on his record as a standard DUI as if those are “one size fits all”
You can’t fix stupid!!
Me personally, I’ve always wanted to steal a Zamboni and take ‘er for a ride. Sadly, it would result in an uninspired police chase.
Drunk coming off a flight it would appear…. perhaps the Southwest arrival from Denver that comes in about that time?
Just another airport freak show! Gotta love it. At least he’s wearing clothing.
The weather outside is perfectly fine a lot of the time.
@George Romey — Maybe we are indeed living through deviant times… or, we got smartphones with cameras and the internet to share our videos and perform outrage! *scoff*
At least he found a moving walkway that was working!
(looking at you, Manchester…)
He’s from Wyoming, where “visibly intoxicated” is another name for “coping mechanism.”
@Denver Refugee — Bah! Friend, I’m with ya, but lest we forget, Cheyenne is less than 2 hours away from Denver…
Nothing like a meth-powered chariot ride at the airport early in the morning. Sounds like Spirit just found the launch passenger for their new Platinum tier.
If it were a Spirit pax (they don’t fly to BUF), they wouldn’t have caught him til he made it outside with the golf cart. Amateur.
His legal strategy for an affirmative defense should be, “If you don’t like my driving, stay off the airport moving walkways.”
@Ken A — Sua sponte, case dismissed!
The dude’s from Buffalo, cut him some slack. It’s the only place substantially worse from than being a Florida Man.
Both the Anchor Bar (which I eat at once a year, schedule permitting, extreme heat wings) and TSA close at 9 pm at BUF according to an internet search (went through a 7 hour delay once where people could leave to eat and come back but were warned of the TSA cutoff time). There are plenty of ways to stay intoxicated after the bar closes. Mixing some drugs, including prescription ones, with booze can lead to intense intoxication. Miniature liquor bottles can keep the intoxication going. You could even order drinks and pour them into your own container when no one is looking. One time at Narita on a delayed NWA flight I stacked up 4 scotch and waters before the bar closed to waste time and burn the food and drink voucher that was otherwise useless.