NEW YORK, NY – MAY 15: The new TWA Hotel at JFK Airport is seen on May 15, 2019 in New York City. The new, 1960’s themed hotel built inside the former Trans World Airlines terminal includes high end retail shops, restaurants, and a cocktail bar inside a restored 60-year-old airplane.
A former airline employee was arrested after allegedly leaving a fake bomb at the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport in Queens.
Airport police said they got a call from a man around 11 a.m. Wednesday stating there was a cellphone bomb in the hotel lobby. A manager at the hotel manager told police shortly after that a cellphone was found in the lobby with a note attached to it stating it was an "explosive device."
The bomb squad was sent to the scene and it was found to be a fake, as the device was not an explosive, law enforcement officials said.
Detectives later got video of the suspect near the hotel, and Port Authority police arrested him at Jamaica Station after he had hopped on the AirTrain in an attempt to get away.
Police said the suspect, identified as 32-year-old Dillon Vista, of Brooklyn, is a former JetBlue employee who was let go during the COVID pandemic.
Attorney information for Vista was not immediately clear, and it was not known what charges he would face.
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