ROMULUS (WWJ) — Two Metro Detroit men are facing attempted murder charges after allegedly driving vehicles directly into passenger terminals at Detroit Metro Airport in separate incidents months apart.
Brian Sutton, 37, of Clinton Township and David Chamlee, 67, of Southgate were both charged in connection with high-speed crashes inside the airport's main buildings.
According to prosecutors, Sutton drove erratically at the airport on Jan. 23 around 7:27 p.m. before making an intentional sharp turn into the McNamara Terminal departures area. His vehicle crashed through glass doors and hit a Delta Air Lines ticket counter.
Three workers, two Delta employees and one TSA employee, were hit by flying glass and debris. Prosecutors say Sutton tried to flee toward a TSA checkpoint before officers detained him.
Sutton was charged with three counts of assault with intent to murder, three counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, three counts of felonious assault, and one count of malicious destruction of building property over $20,000.
Following the January crash, airport officials installed temporary 4 1/2-ton concrete safety barriers outside the terminal doors.
Four months later, on May 29, Chamlee allegedly drove erratically at a high rate of speed along an airport service drive, went over a curb, and traveled the wrong way on Rogell Drive. Prosecutors say he made a sharp right turn into the Evans Terminal without braking, driving roughly 30 to 40 yards down a hallway near the Alaska Airlines and Sun Country Airlines check-in gates.
Airport officials noted the vehicle was able to enter through a gap in the concrete barriers left open to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Two women had to run from the oncoming car and were hit by shattered glass and debris. Upon his arrest, officials said Chamlee appeared disoriented and claimed he was at the airport to meet actor Tom Cruise and save his father.
Chamlee was charged with two counts of assault with intent to murder, two counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, two counts of felonious assault, and one count of malicious destruction of building property over $20,000.
None of the victims in either crash suffered serious physical injuries.
“When you go to an airport – or anywhere for that matter – you certainly do not expect cars to come crashing into the terminal," Worthy said in a statement." We are extremely lucky that on these two days neither terminal was crowded with people and that massive numbers of people were not injured or killed.”
"We are grateful for the dedicated efforts of law enforcement agencies whose hard work led to the identification and arrest of the two individuals accused of driving vehicles into our airport terminals," Wayne County Airport Authority CEO Chad Newton said in a statement. "These incidents posed a serious risk to the traveling public, airport employees and first responders."
