By Ivan Pereira
A Haitian man returning from his earthquake-devastated homeland shut down the American Airlines terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport Saturday evening when he entered a restricted area, the Port Authority said Sunday.
Jules Paul Bouloute, 57, of Brooklyn, was arrested later that night and charged with criminal trespassing Sunday for setting off an alarm when he opened a door at Terminal 8 that was meant for American Airlines employees only, according to the PA. The security breach, which took place around 3:30 p.m., caused officials to shut down the terminal for two hours.
“We completely searched the terminal with police canine units,” PA spokesman Steve Coleman said.
Thousands of air passengers had to wait outside the terminal during the search and everyone had to be rescreened once they got inside, according to Coleman.
Investigators were able to zero in on Bouloute using the airport’s sophisticated security systems.
Bouloute had arrived at JFK from a trip that started in Santo Domingo with a layover in Orlando, according to the PA. He was in Haiti last week when the 7.0 earthquake hit, Coleman said.
Since last month’s attempted bombing of a flight near Detroit, JFK has tightened its security measures to prevent terrorist attacks.
Two weeks ago, Newark Liberty International Airport shut down one of its terminals after a man was able to get past security briefly to kiss his girlfriend good-bye. Haisong Jiang, a graduate student at Rutgers University, was also charged with trespassing for his security breach.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
