Crime & Safety

Alleged Drunk Driver Hits Plane at Airport

Car crashes through fence and plows into small aircraft at John Wayne Airport late Friday. No injuries reported.

Some people will do anything to avoid security lines at John Wayne Airport.

A 56-year-old Santa Ana man was arrested late Friday after he allegedly drove through a chain-link fence on the airport's western side and crashed into a small plane, officials said.

Luis Perez, described as a gardener in arrest reports, was traveling on Baker Street around 10:30 p.m. when he somehow jumped the curb, rolled through a fence and plowed into a parked plane, causing a fuel leak and knocking it into another small aircraft, said Lt. Jim England of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. 

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Perez was booked on suspicion of drunk driving, England said. He was later released, according to arrest records.

No injuries were reported. England said deputies patrol the airport continuously and saw the wayward vehicle almost immediately, as did a maintenance worker. 

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