Police: Man arrested for suspicious activity at Athens airport

A man has been arrested after police say he was acting suspiciously at airports in Athens and Gwinnett County, and authorities say he has a track record of similar incidents involving airports across the country.

In a release from Oct. 13, 2017, the federal Transportation Security Administration issued a BOLO advisory notice for 33-year-old Ahmed Olasunkanmi Salau, whom they say has tried to access restricted areas and aircrafts multiple times at different airports.

The TSA said that Salau, who also goes by Salan, Saluh, and Martinez Davon Wells, has pretended to be a passenger, employee, and crew member to try to access different aircrafts and private areas.

In one case in May 2017, the TSA states that Salau posed as the captain and then as a passenger to try to get on a flight at Midway International Airport in Illinois. The TSA says that this incident is just one of a number of attempts in places like St. Louis, New York, and Washington, D.C.  

On Dec. 26, an Athens-Clark County officer was called to Athens Ben Epps Airport after staff reported a suspicious person. 

The officer said that Salau was talking with a pilot about "trying to learn how to navigate and flight patterns." He told police that he did not have any identification but did have his driver's license number.

When asked to leave, Salau had to be asked to leave the premise multiple times after stopping to talk to customers, the officer reported.

Salau was charged with loitering and prowling, in part "due to Salau obviously having a long record of trespassing on government property," the officer said in his report.

The staff at the airport asked officials to bar Salau from the property for two years.

Two days later, an officer was called to Gwinnett County Airport after an employee recognized Salau from the TSA BOLO.

She told the officer that Salau had come into the flight business office asking about an aircraft arriving for him.

When the officer later located Salau, he said Salau told him that he was "promoting his nonprofit organization to benefit underprivileged kids."

The officer said he ran Salau's information through dispatch and discovered the warrant issued in Athens-Clark County.

Salau is currently booked into Clarke County Jail.