Marine Recruit Arrested After Running on Lindbergh Field Tarmac

A young military enlistee climbed over several fences—including one topped by razor wire—between Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego and Lindbergh Field Thursday and then ran across a runway before being arrested, authorities said.

San Diego Harbor Police officers detained the man, who is in his early 20s, near the airport's Southwest Airlines terminal just before 6:30 a.m., moments after he dashed across the tarmac clad in boxer shorts and a T-shirt, SDHP Sgt. Brad Hizer said.

The recruit was bleeding from cuts inflicted by the jagged security wire, which also apparently had torn off his pants as he crawled over the second perimeter fence, Hizer said. He was turned over to Marine Corps officials, who took him to a hospital.

It was unclear why the man decided to enter airport property, though recruits from the adjacent military training base periodically do so, apparently to "get away from boot camp," the sergeant said.

No flight disruptions were reported.

The recruit, whose name was withheld, had reported to MCRD on Monday, was undergoing initial processing and had yet to begin his military training, according to a statement from the base.