Naked swimmer nabbed near JFK airport fuel farm

A man found swimming naked in the waterway next to the fuel farm for New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Tuesday has been charged with trespassing.

The swimmer was spotted at 10:50 a.m. by roving airport patrols, according to Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

When patrols approached, the swimmer allegedly ran toward the fuel farm and was arrested.

"The man never entered the prohibited fuel farm area and was never in a restricted area," Coleman said. 

The man was interviewed by Port Authority police and taken to nearby Jamaica Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

The Port Authority is working to confirm the man's identity, and the case remains under investigation.

Last year, two men were convicted in a 2007 plot to blow up fuel tanks at the airport.

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Joy Jernigan is a senior travel editor for msnbc.com. Follow her on Twitter.

Discuss this post

Psych eval?  Why?  For skinny dipping?  Doing it in a river?  Near the airport?  Or a combo?

  • 8 votes
Reply#1 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:11 AM EDT

Because you'd have to be nuts to swim in a waterway near a fuel tank farm....

  • 3 votes
#1.1 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:54 AM EDT

I think it was the security gaurd that had the psych eval, not the swimmer.

  • 1 vote
#1.2 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:39 PM EDT

Perhaps you should learn how to spell "Guard".

    #1.3 - Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:17 AM EDT
    Reply

    What could he have possibly been hiding?

    • 8 votes
    Reply#2 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:23 AM EDT

    I heard that the terrorists are trying to figure out a way to implant a bomb in a human body...never underestimate them!

    • 2 votes
    #2.1 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 PM EDT

    He could very well have planted a device in the waterway or it was a diversion for something else. Dry runs usually are 2 weeks out.

    • 1 vote
    #2.2 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:11 PM EDT
    Reply

    He should have been shot on the spot, fish need to eat...........

      Reply#3 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:29 AM EDT

      ... for swimming in the nude?

      Dramaqueen much?

      • 7 votes
      #3.1 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:02 PM EDT

      policestate much?

      • 1 vote
      #3.2 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:32 PM EDT

      I am so disappointed. Last time I went swimming in the nude no one arrested me---or even noticed. Shucks! Some guys have all the luck.

      • 1 vote
      #3.3 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 4:22 PM EDT

      lucky guy, last time i swam nekked a Japanese whaler showed up and tried to harpoon me. Kept saying something like beluga.

      • 2 votes
      #3.4 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:09 PM EDT
      Reply

      Slow news day. Two days in a row.

      • 1 vote
      Reply#4 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:37 AM EDT

      Funny you didn't make this comment on stories about the assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai or the suicide bombing in Mumbai.

      • 2 votes
      #4.1 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:10 PM EDT

      imnotlost, Slow comment day, too, I suppose.

      • 1 vote
      #4.2 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 4:23 PM EDT
      Reply

      He should have been shot on the spot, fish need to eat...........

      If you give a fish a man he eats for a day. Teach him how to shoot and...

      • 7 votes
      Reply#5 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:41 AM EDT

      durn double posting

        Reply#6 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:41 AM EDT

        He sure didn't have anything hidden....

          Reply#7 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:42 AM EDT

          While chasing down a kid skinny-dipping on a hot day, a passenger boards a flight with a stun gun! Great work!

          Why is it the farther you go up the chain of command, logic becomes more and more rare? When you find an idiot, you know you are getting close to the top!

          • 5 votes
          Reply#8 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:35 PM EDT

          That's the SNAFU principle in effect.

            #8.1 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:26 PM EDT

            The there is the Peter Principal-- people rise to the level of their incompetence

            • 1 vote
            #8.2 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 5:59 PM EDT
            Reply

            Gives new meaning to Big Joe Turner's song Flip, Flop and Fly

            • 1 vote
            Reply#9 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:36 PM EDT

             as if this is really that "newsworthy"?  comon. 

              Reply#10 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:44 PM EDT

              Yeah, but you clicked on the link, just like I did! :)

              • 3 votes
              #10.1 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:49 PM EDT

              OilmanMD, as if this is really that "comment worthy"? come on.

                #10.2 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 4:26 PM EDT
                Reply

                What law did he violate? Was the fuel farm marked with signage? Until he was chased out of the water, who knew he was naked? More governmental lunacy, that lets stun guns and underwear bombers onto planes, but harasses the elderly and children.

                Our airport incompetency is becoming more than a joke. I've already decided I won't fly anymore, will either drive or take the train. I've been manhandled by the TSA, things stolen out of my check baggage, I have no intention of flying ever again.

                • 5 votes
                Reply#11 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:48 PM EDT

                Surgically implanted devices, fake pregnant women, grandmothers, and children have all been used in terrorism attacks. Even donkeys and messengers, and baby carriages. If we do not take the time to investigate all these methods by scanning passengers and something gets past the TSA then people will cry about that.

                The real problem is Islamic terrorism.

                  #11.1 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:15 PM EDT

                  The REAL problem is PARANOIA...

                  • 1 vote
                  #11.2 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 10:20 PM EDT

                  Umm, maybe because the water there contains known pollutants and is not safe for swimming?? Hate to knock you off your anti government high horse. Carry on.

                    #11.3 - Thu Jul 14, 2011 2:51 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    Kramer is that you?

                    • 2 votes
                    Reply#14 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 1:21 PM EDT

                    Great episode.

                      #14.1 - Thu Jul 14, 2011 2:49 PM EDT
                      Reply

                       Did anyone wonder if he took off his clothes in the waterway and what they contained?

                        Reply#15 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:06 PM EDT

                        Nude swimming = bad.

                        A better question is why did this guy choose to swim there of all places?

                        Guess that's why they gave him a psych eval.

                        • 1 vote
                        Reply#16 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:27 PM EDT

                        When I said, "nude swimming = bad", I was just commenting on a culture that prefers gratuitous violence over natural sex or nudity. Wasn't sure if that came across clear enough.

                        • 1 vote
                        #16.1 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:45 PM EDT

                        Gotta be crazy swimming in a new york river, ewwww. 12 million plus people and hundreds of ships, its gotta be polluted

                        • 1 vote
                        #16.2 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:13 PM EDT

                        Let alone right next to the fuel storage. Guaranteed that guy smelled of chemicals.

                        • 3 votes
                        #16.3 - Thu Jul 14, 2011 2:49 PM EDT
                        Reply

                        Even though the article does not mention that the authorities checked the waterway for explosive devises; I'm hoping that that was the first thing they did after taking this individual into custody.

                          Reply#17 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 5:51 PM EDT

                          He could have had a stick of TNT in his butt

                            Reply#18 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 6:00 PM EDT

                            Like the Iraqi Ass Map?

                              #18.1 - Thu Jul 14, 2011 2:45 PM EDT
                              Reply

                              The diaper heads and sand @!$%#s have won the game!

                                Reply#19 - Wed Jul 13, 2011 7:35 PM EDT

                                If he never entered a restricted area why was he arrested?

                                  Reply#20 - Thu Jul 14, 2011 6:53 AM EDT

                                  Umm, indecent exposure?? Just guessing.

                                    #20.1 - Thu Jul 14, 2011 2:46 PM EDT
                                    Reply

                                    I'm sorry, Tony, I won't swim there anymore.

                                      Reply#21 - Fri Jul 15, 2011 3:07 AM EDT

                                      At least let me know next time. I can bring a picnic basket and make a party out of it.

                                        #21.1 - Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:44 AM EDT

                                        LOL, will do.

                                          #21.2 - Fri Jul 15, 2011 1:26 PM EDT
                                          Reply

                                          Wow, news of the world hacks on here.

                                            Reply#22 - Wed Jul 27, 2011 7:40 PM EDT
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