Bizarre incident occurs at Southern California airport, car crashes onto taxiway

A contracted security guard was taken to a hospital Monday afternoon after his car drove onto an airport taxiway and sped across it, authorities said.

John Wayne Airport spokesperson AnnaSophia Servin issued a statement saying that at approximately 1:12 p.m. on Dec. 8, guards assigned to the security checkpoint “drove a vehicle onto the airport taxiway at a high rate of speed.”

Video shared with ABC7 shows a white sedan speeding on a taxiway near the plane. The news outlet reported that an air traffic controller advised a Southwest Airlines plane to “hold your ground.”

“There was a high-speed chase on the taxiway,” the controller said.

Orange County Sheriff’s deputies detained the driver a short time later and requested a medical evaluation from the Orange County Fire Department, the statement said.

“The individual was evaluated at the scene and determined to be possibly experiencing a medical emergency,” Selvin said.

He was subsequently hospitalized and placed on administrative leave, the statement said. Airport operations continue as planned.