Airport Conveyor Ride Comes with Cost

Chris Jackson of Newbury, Mass., allegedly decided to try what a lot of people only think about doing: finding out what it's like to ride a suitcase conveyor at the airport, police said yesterday.

And while many also wonder what would happen if they rode the conveyor past the flaps through which suitcases appear, the 23-year-old Jackson, too, found out, police said.

It turns out it's not so funny after all, especially in a post Sept. 11 world. According to court documents, police responded to a "panic alarm" at the north end of Manchester-Boston Regional Airport on Monday. Londonderry Officer Ryan Kearney wrote that Jackson had ridden the belt into the secured area, where he was seen by Andrew Liukan, a baggage handler for Southwest Airlines, who then called security.

Londonderry Police Capt. Bill Hart said Jackson apparently had nothing more up his sleeve than having fun. "It appears it was simply a prank," he said. There was no security shutdown, Hart said.

Police arrested Jackson on a charge of criminal trespass, handcuffing him and putting him in the back of a cruiser. Jackson is free on $5,000 personal recognizance bail and has been ordered to stay away from the airport. His trial is scheduled for Dec. 18 at Derry District Court.

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