Man wanted on drug charges leaps from plane to tarmac to escape police

A man wanted on drug charges leaped off a Sun Country flight in an attempt to escape officers waiting for him at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, police said.

Jeremiah Raymond Hoskins, 44, of New Brighton, was aboard Flight 346 arriving from Orlando Sunday night when he found that officers were waiting to arrest him.

In a last-ditch effort to flee, Hoskins decided to pop open the emergency exit as other passengers were getting off the flight at around 11:15 p.m.

He then jumped from the aircraft to the tarmac below, evading officers, the Metropolitan Airports Commission said in a statement.

The man was spotted running across the tarmac and towards Terminal 2 at the airport.

Hoskins was arrested just half an hour later when airport employees found him hiding inside a food service truck, police said.

Airport police noted they had been alerted that Hoskins was arriving in Minneapolis on Sunday, with the suspect wanted for drug charges out of Wright County, Minnesota.

Hoskins was previously arrested on third-degree controlled substance charges on September 19, 2002, according to the Wright County Sheriff’s Department.

He was arrested at the airport Sunday on trespassing charges and for violating a restraining order placed against him, officials said.

Sun Country said that no passengers or crew members were hurt as a result of the incident.

“We take these incidents very seriously, and the crew called airport police who responded quickly,” the airline said in a statement.

A representative for Hoskins could not be immediately reached for comment.