HILO, Hawaii — Operations at Hilo International Airport were briefly halted early Tuesday morning when personnel from the Hawaii Police Department responded to a report from Transportation Security Administration staff of two items resembling grenades being detected in an X-ray screening.
The items belonged to 41-year-old Akito Fukushima, a Japanese national who was leaving Hawaii Island.
Officers responded to the 5:44 a.m. call by securing and evacuating the terminal area as a safety measure while the department’s bomb squad arrived and determined that the items were grenades that did not have explosives in them.
At 6:45 a.m., police arrested Fukushima of Kanazawa, Japan, for first-degree terroristic threatening.
Fukushima was taken to HPD’s East Hawaii Detention Facility and remains in custody as detectives from the Area I Criminal Investigation Section continue their investigation.
Hilo International Airport resumed operations at 6:50 a.m.
Police remind the public that replicas of explosives such as hand grenades are prohibited in checked and carry-on baggage. TSA officers can also prohibit any item going through the screening checkpoint at their discretion if they believe it poses a security threat.