- A 44-year-old man wanted by police escaped out of a plane's emergency exit, CBS Minnesota reported.
- Police had been waiting by the gate to arrest the man as other passengers deplaned.
A passenger onboard a Sun Country Airlines flight climbed out of an emergency exit to try to avoid being arrested, CBS Minnesota first reported.
The Boeing 737 from Orlando, Florida landed at Minneapolis-St Paul Airport around 11 p.m. on Sunday, per FlightAware.
Airport police were waiting at the gate to arrest a 44-year old man wanted for violating a restraining order, who also had an active felony drug warrant, an airport spokesperson told Insider.
Then when the other passengers were deplaning, the suspect opened an emergency exit and stepped out onto the wing before jumping off.
He was then seen running across the tarmac towards the terminal. Police couldn't find him for around 45 minutes, CBS reported.
The airport police searched for the suspect with help from the state patrol, Bloomington Police, and Metro Transit Police, the spokesperson told Insider.
The man was then discovered hiding inside a truck used for airline catering, and placed under arrest.
"The 44-year-old suspect from New Brighton, MN was taken into custody for trespassing and violation of a restraining order," the airport spokesperson said. "The suspect search did not impact airport operations."
"We take these incidents very seriously, and the crew called airport police who responded quickly. Fortunately, passengers and crew are fine," Sun Country Airlines said in a statement shared with other outlets.
Sun Country Airlines did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, sent outside US working hours.
Simple Flying reports the incident was included in the Federal Aviation Administration's unruly passenger rate.
With 983 instances of unruly passengers so far this year, the frequency is already nearing the number of incidents in 2020 — but is still on track to be lower than the 2,455 seen last year.