Pilot accused of repeatedly hitting parking barrier at airport with an ax

DENVER — A pilot with United Airlines has been charged with criminal mischief for allegedly using an ax at the barrier gate of the employee parking lot at Denver International Airport.

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Kenneth Henderson Jones, 63, has been accused of trying to hit the barrier gate multiple times with an ax on Aug. 2, according to The Associated Press. The metal parking arm was knocked off its base. Jones reportedly tried to flee the area by running until a parking lot attendant confronted him.

The attendant told authorities that he grabbed the ax from Jones during some kind of confrontation at a fence. According to the AP, that was when Jones ran to a field in the area where he was later arrested by officers with the Denver Police Department.

Jones reportedly agreed to speak with Adams County Sheriff’s Office deputies without a lawyer and said he was in his car with numerous cars behind him, according to a sheriff’s report obtained by NBC News. That was when he said, “he just hit his breaking point.”

Jones parked his car and grabbed the ax from his car. He said, according to investigators per NBC News, that he was “trying to get rid of issues for everyone waiting.

The estimated cost of the damage is $700, KCNC reported.

Airport administrations said, according to the news outlet, that there have been issues with people not having the proper permits.

NBC News reached out to United Airlines and a rep said that Jones has been removed from the schedule as they conduct its own investigation.

Jones is expected in court next on Sept. 25, NBC News reported.