A United Airlines pilot is facing charges after attacking a parking arm with an axe at Denver International airport Aug. 2, telling police he had “just hit his breaking point.”
Authorities charged Kenneth Henderson Jones, 63, with misdemeanor criminal mischief after causing an estimated $700 in damage to a parking arm located in the employee parking lot of the airport, CBS News reported.
Video of the incident shows Jones, in uniform, march determinedly up to the parking exit with a full-sized axe in his hand. Jones then takes more than two dozen swings at the gate, before the arm is completely severed from its base. An airport employee later confronts Jones, attempting to wrest the axe away from the pilot in the subsequent struggle. It is only until a second airport employee joins the fray that the axe is finally taken from Jones. Police briefly detain Jones before allowing him to leave.
Jones reportedly told police there were six cars in line at each of the three exit gates, and they were not opening and letting people out as they should. Tired of waiting, Jones seemingly decided to take matters into his own hands and “get rid of issues for everyone waiting”, telling police he had “just hit his breaking point,” CBS News reported. (RELATED: United Airlines Announces Firing Nearly 600 Unvaccinated Employees)
Airport administrators admitted there have been issues with the exit gates, telling CBS News that many parking lot patrons don’t have the proper permits.
Jones is licensed to fly large passenger jets such as the 767 and 757. After this incident, however, United Airlines has temporarily suspended Jones pending an internal investigation, a spokesman told CBS News