ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Airport police arrested a 23-year-old Ohio man Sunday who was carrying a handgun and listening to police radio frequencies near the runway around the time President Barack Obama's flight was leaving Asheville Regional Airport, according to investigators.
Joseph Sean McVey, of Coshocton, parked his car near a gate at the end of the terminal that leads to the runway just before 2 p.m. as Air Force One was taxiing, according to a case summary by police filed at the Buncombe County Magistrate's Office.
Police charged him with going armed to the terror of the public, a misdemeanor offense, but investigators haven't yet determined whether he was attempting to target the president. McVey was being held at the Magistrate's Office on Sunday on a secured bond set at $100,000.
Airport Director Lew Bleiweis said the suspect didn't get close to the president, who departed at 2 p.m.
Police began questioning McVey after noticing his car's Ohio license plate and other equipment, including a digital camera on the dashboard and four large antennas on the trunk lid, according to the case summary.
McVey got out of the car and started talking on a handheld radio attached to a remote earpiece, and the officer noticed he was wearing a sidearm. The officer and Secret Service agents asked for McVey's identification, and when they ran his driver's license number through a computer, it did not come back as valid, according to the summary.
When the officer asked what he was doing, McVey stated "he heard the president was in town. He stated he wanted to see the president," according to the summary.
Officers removed McVey's Springfield XD 40 handgun and detained him.
While searching his Pontiac Grand Prix, investigators heard police department radio traffic, "indicating he was monitoring our frequency when he arrived." Officers also found a siren box under his steering wheel, several pieces of paper with agency radio frequencies written on them and a sticky note in the cup holder with rifle scope formulas on them, according to the case summary.
Bleiweis said McVey's intentions were unclear, but the case remains under investigation.
Airport Police Capt. Kevan Smith said the investigation is being pursued by airport police, rather than the Secret Service. Smith said he couldn't say whether further charges will be filed.
Swannanoa resident Max Henkell was at the airport Sunday to watch the president's departure when he saw officers converge on McVey in parking lot, where rental car offices are located.
"They searched him and it looked like he had an empty pistol holster on his side, and I think I hear one of them say he had had a gun," Henkell said.
"When I realized what was going on, I was flabbergasted," he said.
BY JOSH BOATWRIGHT
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