Peter Friesema needs to work on his sense of humor. While checking in for a flight at Alaska’s largest airport on Sunday, Friesema allegedly made a joke about a bomb in a bag, and the police took the comment very seriously.
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport was locked down for more than two hours early Sunday morning as police investigated a “security breach.” The shutdown stemmed from a comment made by Friesema to an Alaska Airlines agent, “But my friend’s bag has a bomb in it.” (Some accounts quote him as saying “What if my friend’s bag has a bomb in it?”) His joke, according to the Anchorage Daily News, “forced hundreds of passengers into the cold night air, caused many to miss connections, and landed him in jail.”
As police investigated the threat, hundreds of passengers were sent outside into freezing temperatures. According to the Associated Press, shuttle buses were only able to carry a few dozen passengers at a time out of the cold and over to other terminals.
(MORE: Flight Attendant Brings a Gun to Philadelphia Airport)
Friesema has been arrested on charges of making terroristic threats and disorderly conduct. “He did something that in this day and age a teenager would know better than to do,” said John Parrott, the Anchorage airport manager speaking to the Anchorage Daily News. The result was hundreds of people inconvenienced and a costly delay of flights.”
Additionally, the police set up a roadblock to prevent people from reaching the terminal, according to the Associated Press. The result was a long line of traffic on the road leading to the airport.
Friesema was jailed at the Anchorage Correctional Complex with bail set at $5,000.