Man faces state, federal charges for driving onto restricted area at Cleveland airport

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - A 26-year-old man accused of carjacking a vehicle in Fairview Park and then driving onto a restricted area at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport last week is now facing state and federal charges.

Fairview Park police charged Isaac Woolley, 26, with grand theft motor vehicle and attempted felonious assault and the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio charged him with entering an aircraft or airport area in violation of security requirements, carjacking and destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities.

Fairview Park police said around 8:15 p.m. on Nov. 23, Woolley stole a car from a parking lot in the 21500 block of Brookpark Road.

According to police, the victim was driving around the parking lot looking for a lost pet. When she got out of the car and left it running, police said Woolley jumped in and drove away.

Police said Woolley did knock the victim to the ground before taking off and dragged her for about 150 feet. Officials said she suffered minor injuries.

“A few minutes later we learned from Cleveland Hopkins Airport and Cleveland Police that a vehicle had been driven onto the airport property” said Fairview Park Police Chief, Paul Shepard.

Woolley then allegedly drove the car onto the tarmac through a west gate at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and abandoned the car just off the runway.

While at the airport, officials said Woolley damaged the main radar antenna tower, causing it to be inoperable for a period of time.

All flights were either grounded or diverted from the airport on one of the busiest travel days of the year until Cleveland police took Woolley into custody.

Although Wooley did steal the car in Fairview Park, Shepard said they are withdrawing the city charges for now.

“Based on stuff that may have happened before the stolen car and stuff that happened after the stolen car was probably the more appropriate charge to send him through the federal court system” said Shepard.

Shepard would not confirm if Woolley committed any federal crimes before allegedly stealing the car or if those charges all stem the incident at Hopkins. All he would say is, it is now out of the local police department’s hands.

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