Gene Blevins/Reuters
Police say a mentally ill homeless man managed to sneak past security at a Los Angeles area airport and board a private jet before starting a fire inside it on Thursday. The 25-year-old man, whose identity has not been released, reportedly walked through a vehicle entrance at the Van Nuys Airport airport when the gate opened for a car to enter. The driver reportedly told police the homeless man claimed to be the airport owner before walking into a hangar. He then boarded a parked Gulfrstream G4 jet and lit a cigarette. When airport employees entered and asked him to leave, he tried to put his cigarette out in his bandanna, resulting in a fire on board the jet and $5,000 in damage. The man was subsequently arrested for trespassing and vandalism.