Texarkana Gazette
August 1, 2018

"Police: Man tried to steal plane for concert

A man arrested at the Texarkana Regional Airport on July 4th allegedly told investigators he intended to fly a stolen plane to a rap music concert in another state.

Asked about his lack of training as a pilot, Zemarcuis Devon Scott, 18, allegedly told Texarkana, Ark., police that he didn't believe there was much more to the task than pushing buttons and pulling levers , according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account.

It was about 2:30 a.m. when airport security personnel contacted police about seeing a man jump a fence and attempt to enter an American Eagle twin-engine jet. By the time officers arrived, the suspect, later identified as Scott, had gotten onto the small commercial plane and closed the door behind him.

When officers shined a flashlight into the plane's cockpit from outside the jet, they could see a man sitting in the pilot's seat with his hands below the window and out of direct view. Fearing for their safety, an officer drew his weapon and ordered the man to keep his hands up where they could be seen.

When the suspect turned his gaze toward the officers, two of them allegedly recognized Scott from past encounters. Two of the three responding officers got the plane's door open while the third continued to monitor Scott until he could be taken into custody.

On Monday, Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Black formally charged Scott with commercial burglary and attempted theft of property with a value greater than $25,000. Both offenses are felonies punishable by three to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.

Scott is being held in the Miller County jail with bail set at $25,000. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Carlton Jones. A date for Scott's arraignment on the charges hasn't been scheduled but he is expected to appear in court later this month."

quote:

It was about 2:30 a.m. when airport security personnel contacted police about seeing a man jump a fence and attempt to enter an American Eagle twin-engine jet.

Multi-engine jets......what could be simpler to fly?

quote:

Originally posted by Bigboreshooter:

quote:

It was about 2:30 a.m. when airport security personnel contacted police about seeing a man jump a fence and attempt to enter an American Eagle twin-engine jet.

Multi-engine jets......what could be simpler to fly?

In the dark.

He probably doesn’t know where the universal key holder is on every plane.

I think you guys are making much to much of this. I'm sure Zemarius had his iPhone, and YouTube surely has a video on how to fly a jet. Nothing to it.

^^^^Silly, it's in the tail pipe or over the sun visor. Sheesh.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
I think you guys are making much to much of this. I'm sure Zemarius had his iPhone, and YouTube surely has a video on how to fly a jet. Nothing to it.

Sure. Find a Youtube that tells you where the keys are kept on every airplane.

Only pilots are allowed that info. Not even John and Martha will tell you that.

This reminds me of the helicopter chase in the new Mission Impossible movie.

The character Ethan Hunt gets in a helicopter mid-flight, boots the pilot, hops in the seat and then figures out how to fly it.

The irony is Tom Cruise not only can absolutely fly that bird, but he was doing the stunt flying for the scene and had to "act" like he didn't know what he was doing.

Anyway, no way you can hop in a twin turbine AC and just figure it out and especially not a helicopter!

quote:

Originally posted by Bigboreshooter: Multi-engine jets......what could be simpler to fly?

Nuthin' to it. Just do what you normally do in a single-engine jet, but do it twice. Pfffft. Easy.

Must've been a fantastic concert.

If he had gotten the aircraft to make a loud whistling noise, he would have made the rap show.

I recall reading about a young thief who would steal planes. Kid was a teenager with no experience and no pilots license. I believe he crash landed the first couple and basically taught himself to fly. He wasn't stealing jets.

I'm curious if Zemarcuis had gotten far enough along in his planning to figure out where he was going to land the plane. And how he was going to navigate to that destination. Just doesn't seem like Zemarcuis really thought this through.

And I really think he needs an apostrophe in his name somewhere. Maybe Z'emarcuis or Zem'arcuis.

quote:

Originally posted by bdylan:
I recall reading about a young thief who would steal planes. Kid was a teenager with no experience and no pilots license. I believe he crash landed the first couple and basically taught himself to fly. He wasn't stealing jets.

You're probably thinking about this guy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colton_Harris_Moore
He became kind of a folk hero in Washington.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:

quote:

Originally posted by bdylan:
I recall reading about a young thief who would steal planes. Kid was a teenager with no experience and no pilots license. I believe he crash landed the first couple and basically taught himself to fly. He wasn't stealing jets.

You're probably thinking about this guy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colton_Harris_Moore
He became kind of a folk hero in Washington.

Jim

Thanks Jimbo. That's the kid. I'm no fan of a thief, but I was a little impressed.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
^^^^Silly, it's in the tail pipe or over the sun visor. Sheesh.

Nah- it’s in a magnetic hide-a-key holder under the wheel well...

Magnesty

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Originally posted by JALLEN:...
He probably doesn’t know where the universal key holder is on every plane.

Keys are above the sun visor...

Magnets don't work so good on the aluminiums.

I am definitely not the “soft on crime” type, but this gentleman is obviously mentally challenged.

I don’t know of any other arrests or circumstances that could change my thoughts, but if this is his only incident I believe community service and probation would be appropriate (just based on story). He had zero chance or ability to succeed in doing anything.

Siri was his co-pilot.

quote:

Originally posted by reloader-1:
I am definitely not the “soft on crime” type, but this gentleman is obviously mentally challenged.

I don’t know of any other arrests or circumstances that could change my thoughts, but if this is his only incident I believe community service and probation would be appropriate (just based on story). He had zero chance or ability to succeed in doing anything.

My experience with thieves has been with folks about as intelligent as Zimarcuisitiness.

Could not take off because the last guy who flew the plane unplugged the x-box controller and took it with him.