The roving Romeo who threw Newark Airport into panic and chaos when he breached security to cozy up to his girlfriend was tracked down and arrested Friday.
Rutgers University student Haisong Jiang, 28, admitted he was the man caught on security cameras walking down a security checkpoint exit lane into the secure area, Port Authority police said.
Jiang said, "You got me," when Port Authority cops nabbed him at his Piscataway, N.J., home. He's accused of defiant trespass but could face more charges, cops said.
The suspect, clad in a tan windbreaker and black pants, cowered behind cops and ignored reporters' questions as he was led from Port Authority police headquarters at the airport Friday.
Security video shows Jiang loitering around a supposedly secure exit on Sunday manned by a Transportation Security Administration guard in the terminal for several minutes.
When the guard steps away from his post, Jiang scoots under a security rope to join his girlfriend.
The two lovebirds then can be seen hot-footing it, arm-in-arm, into the secure part of the terminal.
The breach delayed more than 100 flights, stranded thousands of passengers and closed the terminal for more than seven hours.
"I don't think he thought he did anything wrong because he never mentioned what happened," said a classmate, who gave his name as Hui, 29.
"I've known him five years and I've never seen him so excited and happy because his girlfriend spent a week here around Christmas," said Hui.
"She is a very nice girl who's worried and upset about the incident at the airport," Hui said. "She called from Los Angeles Friday night to ask what happened. Now she plans to come here in a couple of days to be with him."
Friends said Jiang, who came to the U.S. from China in 2004, is in a doctorate molecular bioscience program at Rutgers and had never been in trouble with the law.
Police said it looks like Jiang meant no harm and only wanted to follow his girl to a secure part of the concourse to say goodbye.
A neighbor, Gene Wells, 53, said he felt some sympathy for Jiang, who lives with a group of students.
"He's not a terrorist - he just did something stupid," Wells said.
Port Authority police said a team of six detectives tracked down Jiang by checking surveillance tapes, plane manifests and photos of license plates in airport parking lots, and interviewing possible witnesses.
Armed with the evidence, they went to Jiang's Lincoln Ave. home Friday and knocked on the door.
"He answered and said something to the effect, 'You got me,'" and admitted what happened," a police source said.
"Old fashioned police work found him. Nothing glamorous about the search, just old-fashioned shoe leather," the source said.
The air-headed TSA guard who left his post was identified as Ruben Hernandez. He reportedly is on administrative leave and faces possible disciplinary action.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) praised Port Authority police on the arrest, saying that with it, "law enforcement will be able to take a closer look into how and why this incident occurred and make sure that it never happens again."
He added, "This is a case far more important than is obvious. Authorities picked up a person with a pedigree and an education who did something very stupid. What he did was a terrible injustice to thousands of people."
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