A North Carolina man was arrested for stealing a Pittsburgh Airport truck and crashing it into an airport building.
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Truck Stolen
Harry Griffith, 35, was found with abrasions to his hands and knees in the long-term parking lot at Pittsburgh International Airport. According to an Airport Authority Employee, the North Carolina suspect stole an airport vehicle and ran it into a building housing the moving walkway between the landside terminal and the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
The vehicle was taken when the employee parked his vehicle to collect trash. The driver careened through the sliding glass doors on one side of the building before he hit a cement pillar on the opposite wall. It appeared that there was significant damage to the Ford F-350 on the driver’s side of the vehicle.
According to reports, the driver jumped out of the vehicle before he was later apprehended by Allegheny County Police. The location of the incident was between the hotel and the building that houses departures, airport offices, baggage claim, and car rental locations. He was taken to a local hospital where he was later arrested following examination for his injuries.
Repairs
The long indoor walkway building has returned to operation with some minimal surface repairs as a stop-gap. The weather in Pittsburgh has mostly moved past the cold winter months (though temperatures dropped to freezing in recent days) but rain and high winds make fixing the facility a priority.
The airport has no timeline for a permanent fix to the important structure that connects parking travelers and hotel guests with the terminal. Gates operate from a separate building, connected by a single-line subway train commuting between the two facilities.
Repairs will be important as the walkway is utilized by hundreds of thousands of travelers monthly.
Conclusion
There’s no named motive for the thief’s actions though it appears by all accounts to be the actions of either a sick or intoxicated person. Toxicology reports for Griffith were not provided. I have personally used the hallway hundreds, perhaps even a thousand times and it is nearly always occupied with travelers, employees, and visitors. While no one was injured in this incident, that’s little more than a lucky coincidence. Hopefully, Griffith gets the help that he needs or punishment for his actions and the airport is able to quickly repair the damage to that important building.
What do you think?
You have used it thousands of times? Actually I use the rubber floored walkways as a tread mill at some airports and just walk circles on my layovers.
I worked at PIT for the better part of a year so that was at least 2-4 times 5-6 days a week plus all of the trips over the last eight years (30-40/annually) so I think that number works out.