NBC, msnbc.com and news services
updated 1/4/2010 3:58:39 PM ET 2010-01-04T20:58:39

Police have caught the man they believe breached security at Newark Liberty International Airport, resulting in major delays and grounding flights for several hours, WNBC-TV reported Friday.

No details were available on the man's identity but he was apparently being questioned Friday night at a building at the airport, WNBC said.

The breach Sunday night led the Transportation Security Administration to shut down one of Newark Liberty International's three terminals for six hours, stranding thousands of passengers and contributing to major delays.

On a surveillance video released Thursday by the TSA and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a guard is seen sitting at a security podium in an exit lane as passengers stream past on their way out of the terminal.

A man wearing a light-colored jacket stands inside a rope barrier, and the guard approaches the man, apparently telling him to move behind the rope.

Within a minute, the guard leaves the podium again and disappears into the crowd. A woman in a long white coat approaches the podium from inside the terminal; the man sees her and ducks under the security rope, and the two walk past, arm in arm.

The man was seen on a separate surveillance camera leaving the terminal about 20 minutes later, according to the TSA. He has not been found, and his identity remains a mystery.

A bystander waiting for an arriving passenger noticed the breach and told the guard. TSA officials then discovered that surveillance cameras at the security checkpoint had not recorded the breach and were forced to consult backup security cameras operated by Continental Airlines.

The Associated Press and NBC News contributed to this report.


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