14 DAY TRIAL // A Nevada man was arrested on Sunday after local police said he stole a small plane from the Boulder City Airport and took off on a drunken joy ride.
Paul Michael Weddle, 47, was arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center early on Monday on suspicion of taking an aircraft without the owner's permission, piloting it while under the influence, and making false statements to an officer.
Authorities received a call from a maintenance supervisor with Scenic Airlines, which runs air tours of the Grand Canyon, reporting that someone had stolen one of their Cessna 208 Caravan planes and was recklessly flying it. Weddle was arrested after taking off and landing five times.
As reported by Daily Mail, the drunken man was eventually stopped after coming dangerously close to another aircraft after an abrupt turn and had to be tackled by officers. He claimed he was practicing his takeoffs and landings for his pilot's license exam.
Boulder City police officers noted in their report that the pilot was also taxiing the plane at a high speed and was having problems controlling the vehicle.
It seems that this is a crime that police in the area have never seen before.
According to the police report, when the suspect got out of the plane, officers noticed he had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, so they run a breath test. His preliminary alcohol breath test measured at 0.132 percent, which is more than three times the legal limit for pilots.
Officers are trying to find out how Weddle got into the airport, given that it is typically closed overnight and the man didn’t have an access badge for the airport.
Authorities say they are investigating whether he used a tour operator's gate, as he is believed to be a former employee of a tour airline company that operates out of the Boulder City Airport, according to airport director Brok Armantrout.
“The only activity during the night time hours are maintenance inside the hangars, and those personnel are likely not monitoring the ramp area as it would be pitch black and impossible to see someone if they were walking around,” Armantrout said, according to Review Journal.
Weddle is due to appear in court at the Regional Justice Center on Tuesday though he hasn't been formally charged yet.
However, Federal Aviation Administration records show that a Paul Michael Weddle from Henderson does have a pilot's license.