A Connecticut man was caught trying to smuggle a pocket knife through the cushion of his wheelchair at LaGuardia Airport on Wednesday morning, according to the TSA.
A TSA officer discovered the folding knife, which featured a four-inch blade, during a routine screening of Yancey Horton’s wheelchair. Horton, 39, a resident of New Haven, claimed that he was a fisherman and that he had simply misplaced his fishing knife, according to the administration.
But the knife was found placed “in such a way that it was only accessible after a portion of the chair was disassembled,” the TSA said in a press release.
Port Authority police cited Horton on a state weapons charge. He will have to report to criminal court in Queens.
Travelers who bring weapons to the checkpoint are subject to possible criminal charges from law enforcement and civil penalties from TSA of up to $12,000.
After what the TSA described as a thorough screening, the administration said Horton was allowed to catch his flight to Atlanta, Georgia.
