UWS Lawyer Left Bag That Shut Down JFK Terminal

So, you know how JFK Airport's Terminal 8 was partially evacuated for 1.5 hours while the authorities—complete with the bomb squad and K9 dogs—investigated a bag left in a lounge? A bag left by a passenger who was found on a flight to San Francisco? Well, according to the Post, the passenger was an Upper West Side lawyer who made the "bonehead decision to trash his computer bag."

Apparently he left an empty laptop bag on the floor, and someone alerted authorities. To complicate matters, the Post reports, "Then a Port Authority bomb-sniffing dog brought in to examine the bag 'sat' on it, indicating it might contain explosives, sources said." But it turned out the bag, which was nearly empty with only papers, was actually harmless.

The Wall Street Journal says the passenger, who had no other luggage with him and had purchased a one-way ticket, may have forgotten the bag.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on July 26, 2011 10:03 AM

Comments [rss]

AGWAGW

So, if I'm reading this correctly, this lawyer had no other bags aside from the one he left in the airport. How do you forget the only bag you've brought with you? And he had a one-way ticket? Well, nothing suspicious here, move along.

Peanut_Butter

He's a lawyer, 'nuff said.

Daina Gigliotti

the dog sits on bags that might contain bombs? that doesn't seem smart....

MEDICNYC

The dog isn't trained to sit ON the item. They are trained to sniff out a suspected explosive and then sit NEXT to it. This is opposed to him grabbing the explosive with his mouth, jumping on it, or barking excessively, any one of which could set the explosive device off.