Detroit (AP) -- An Ohio man who authorities say walked through a passenger screening checkpoint at Detroit Metropolitan Airport without a boarding pass, prompting an evacuation, stood silently in court Tuesday before being ordered detained.
The man identified in a criminal complaint as Kaylan L. Policherla didn't respond to Magistrate Judge Mark Randon when asked his name and other questions during a brief hearing in U.S. District Court in Detroit. He wore a long-sleeved shirt unbuttoned to his stomach and stood with his hands in his pockets.
Randon granted federal defender Dave Tholen's request for a mental health evaluation. Tholen, who was appointed to represent Policherla, said his client also was unresponsive when he earlier tried to discuss the case.
Policherla, 27, is charged with entering an airport area in violation of federal security requirements, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison. A hearing on whether he will remain in custody was set for Thursday.
Tholen declined to comment after the hearing.
The criminal complaint said Policherla illegally parked a 2001 Volkswagen Passat with Ohio license plates outside the McNamara Terminal in Romulus before entering Monday morning and walking through the checkpoint.
Policherla didn't heed Transportation Security Administration workers and was subdued by airport police after a stun gun failed to stop him, the complaint said. Part of the terminal was evacuated.
Security screening resumed about an hour later. It wasn't clear why Policherla was at the airport, authorities said. The U.S. attorney's office said Policherla was from Ohio, but his hometown wasn't available.
Messages were left Tuesday at Ohio phone numbers under his last name.
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