A California airport was partially locked down after a man took a joyride in an airfield and then hid in a ceiling, police said

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A California airport was partially locked down after a man took a joyride in an airfield and then hid in a ceiling, police said
The airport is located in southern California. Jae C. Hong/AP
  • John Wayne Airport went into partial lockdown after a man breached security, California police said.
  • Officials confirmed via Twitter that a security incident had caused temporary disruption.
  • An NBC4 reporter at the scene said officials had tried to negotiate with a man hiding in a ceiling.
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Officials confirmed that a security incident took place at California's John Wayne Airport on Friday night, saying that a man was found in the ceiling.

The Orange County Sheriff's Dept said on Twitter that an airport employee found a man on the airfield after he had apparently taken control of a vehicle.

An emergency response was activated and terminal C had been locked down. "The man was later located in the ceiling on the non-secure side of the terminal," the Twitter statement said.

Robert Kovacik, an NBC4 reporter, was present at the airport during the incident. He tweeted that there was a man was in the ceiling, who officials were trying to negotiate with.

A video posted by Kovacik appeared to show the man being taken into custody after coming down from the ceiling.

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Insider reached out to airport officials to confirm the incident but they did not immediately respond.

Although the police statement only mentioned terminal C, NBC4 reported that terminals A and B were also evacuated. The main terminal was unaffected, it said.

A post from the airport's Twitter account confirmed a security incident at 7:30 p.m. ET, saying more details would follow. Around 8:45 p.m., the account tweeted that the airport had reopened.

An airport spokeswoman told the Los Angeles Times that the evacuation was a precautionary measure.

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