Man taken into custody at Buffalo airport after crashing pickup truck into gate

CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — A man in a pickup truck drove through a roadside gate at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport and crossed a runway before being taken into custody Tuesday morning, according to police.

The unidentified man was apprehended at the western New York airport without incident about 6 minutes after breaching the gate, which was damaged. The incident, which occurred at about 7:30 a.m., did not disrupt air traffic, said Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Police Chief Brian Patterson.

It was not clear why the man breached the gate, but Patterson told reporters at a briefing that “we’ve come to the conclusion that this was intentional.”

The pickup truck crossed a taxiway and a runway before the man was taken into custody on an inactive runway outside a plane that is used for training, the chief said.

Paterson said the man faces state and federal charges.

The FBI was assisting with the investigation.

A dog inside the vehicle was being cared for.