Car drives through fence at airport, briefly disrupting operations, officials say

A car crashed through a fence at Maine’s busiest airport, traveled on a service road alongside a runway and then was abandoned, causing a brief disruption, officials said.

The episode unfolded Sunday morning at Portland International Jetport, when the abandoned sedan was spotted after it had crashed into a second fence in a secure area of the airport, officials said.

The 33-year-old driver was quickly located and charged with criminal trespass, leaving the scene of an accident, driving to endanger, and aggravated criminal mischief, police said.

Airport officials closed the runway for about 45 minutes for a security sweep, but no flights were delayed. The motorist drove on a road alongside an airport runway but didn’t actually drive onto the runway or taxiway, said Zach Sundquist, the airport’s assistant director. No one was injured, and there was no threat to the public, police said.