NEW YORK (WPIX)—
A man returning from Haiti who walked through a restricted door and set off an alarm that led to the evacuation of Terminal 8 at JFK Airport told police he went through the door by mistake.Jules Paul Bouloute, 57, was arraigned Sunday on charges including first-degree criminal tampering and third-degree criminal trespass, said Helen Peterson, a spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney.
Bouloute's attorney says his client "just walked through the wrong door." According to an official familiar with the case, Bouloute told officers he had just been trying to exit the Queens airport.
But, prosecutors say Bouloute went through a door that was clearly marked as restricted for airport workers only.
Saturday's security breach delayed hundreds of passengers, who were forced to wait for hours as TSA officials swept the terminal -- used by American Airlines for both domestic and international flights.
Passengers were then re-screened before they were allowed to board their flights.
Bouloute has since been released without bail. He faces seven years behind bars if convicted on the most serious charge.
The incident came less than two weeks after a security breach at Newark Airport. A Rutgers University graduate student from China, Haisong Jiang, 28, was charged last week with trespassing on January 3rd.
Jiang will be arraigned on January 28th in Newark.
Meanwhile, Stephen Sigmund, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said the agency was reviewing security procedures and reaching out to airlines to make sure security protocols were being followed.
