Police: Man accused of DWI crashed muscle car through New Orleans airport fence, onto runway

KENNER, La. – A 23-year-old man crashed his muscle car through the New Orleans airport fence and onto a runway briefly before crashing back through the fence outside the airport's perimeter, police said.

Kaleb Clement was booked with drunken driving and hit-and-run after the 1 p.m. incident, said Col. John Fortunato, spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.

It was not clear whether Clement had an attorney.

Clement's blue 2012 Dodge Challenger crashed through the airport's northwest perimeter fence, then crashed back out through the northeast fence, Fortunato said.

Michelle Wilcut, spokeswoman for Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, said an airport worker patrolling the field spotted the car and circled back toward it. "The guy fled and ran through the fence," she said.

Wilcut said no flights were affected.

Fortunato said deputies and Kenner police arrested Clement without incident not far from the second broken fence. Clement had abandoned his car just outside the airport and was found hiding behind a nearby business, Fortunato said.

Clement is from Paulina, a St. James Parish town about 50 miles west of New Orleans and 30 miles west-southwest of Kenner, where the airport is located.