Local News in Brief : Suspension Upheld in Airport Gun Incident

Burbank Airport commissioners have upheld a 2-week suspension for an airport police officer who pointed his gun at a 91-year-old man driving toward him.

Two members of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Airport Authority Operations Committee, Leland Ayers and J.C. Schwarzenbach, agreed Tuesday that Officer Jeffrey Mason, 32, violated security policy when he drew a gun on Henry Waks on March 27. The other committee member, Carl Messick, was not present to vote.

Mason had appealed the suspension by the airport police force.

Mason had been directing traffic at the terminal when Waks began driving toward him, according to Mason’s attorney, Gerald Lennon. Although Mason shouted repeated warnings and even slammed his citation book on the hood of the car, Waks continued on, Lennon said.

Mason then drew his gun and ordered Waks to stop, Lennon said. When Waks did, Mason put the gun away, he said.

Lennon said Mason was told that he violated policy by drawing the gun because he was not protecting public safety or preventing a crime. It was later determined that Waks apparently did not understand Mason’s warnings, he said.