CLEVELAND — New video shows the chaotic moments as police tried to detain a man they said was wielding a machete at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The incident came the day after the TSA recorded one of the busiest air travel days on record, screening more than three million passengers nationwide on Sunday.
A Cleveland police spokesperson says they got a call about a man at a ticket counter near the front entrance early Monday morning. They said he had "various cutting weapons," including a machete.
A passenger heading to Florida recorded parts of the incident, showing the moments before officers deployed a taser. She told 3News the man pulled out a knife.
The spokesperson said the man became belligerent and defiant, and that the taser was ineffective. They say he jumped over the ticket counter and tried to escape, and the video appears to back up that account.
Cleveland police were eventually able to detain the main and transport him to a hospital for crisis intervention. Nobody was injured in the incident, and the spokesperson did not say whether the man was charged.
The TSA screened almost 11 million passengers from Friday to Monday over the holiday weekend, according to data.
UPDATE: On July 18, the Cleveland Division of Police released the below body camera video footage of the incident. (Warning: Video may contain graphic language and content that may be disturbing for some)