Officials name suspect in airport incident

Authorities said Wednesday that they have identified the man found with an explosive and artillery fuses in his luggage when he boarded a plane at John Wayne Airport.

Gregory Salyer, 23, from Kentucky, was arrested Tuesday after Transportation Security Administration agents found suspicious devices in his luggage and called the Orange County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad, according to an OCSD spokesman.

Salyer had three military artillery fuses and a sting ball grenade — a less-than-lethal explosive that shoots out rubber projectiles — in his checked bag when he boarded a 3:18 p.m. flight to Denver, according to sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock said.

When authorities searched his carry-on bag, they also found a small knife, Adderall and steroid pills, Hallock added.

The military took possession of the grenade and fuses, which Salyer, who had been recently discharged, was not authorized to have, Hallock said.

“It was illegal [for him] to check [them] into his bags,” the lieutenant said. “[And ] it was illegal for him to have because they were property of the military.”

The items caused an evacuation of the plane Salyer was booked on and Gate 21 in JWA’s Terminal C.

Bomb squad members responded to the airport about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday when TSA discovered the items in a screening area. Deputies soon determined that there was no threat, Hallock said.

Salyer was arrested on suspicion of placing an explosive device in a checked bag, possession of a prohibited weapon in an airport, possession of stolen property and possession of the pills, Hallock said.

Sheriffs officials said they did not know what branch of the military Salyer was discharged from.