Woman who ran through SFO checkpoint faces federal charges

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A woman who allegedly ran through a San Francisco International Airport security gate has been charged in federal court with entering an airport area in violation of security requirements.

Cindy Hsiung Wei-Hsuan, 23, a Tawainese citizen visiting the United States on a student visa, was charged in a criminal complaint filed Friday by federal prosecutors in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Jacobs said Tuesday.

If convicted the woman could face up to a year in jail, a $100,000 fine and one year of supervised release, Jacobs said.

Prosecutors have asked a federal magistrate to issue a court summons for Hsiung, but no court date has been set thus far. Jacobs said he didn't know where she is at present.

Part of a terminal at the airport was evacuated for more than an hour Feb. 6 after the woman ducked under a rope and pushed aside tables blocking a closed screening lane to enter the concourse.

The woman was detained later that day in Baltimore, where she had flown from San Francisco, according to federal officials.

As a result half of Terminal 3 was closed for about an hour and 2,000 people had to be rescreened. No flights were canceled, but many were delayed.

About 10 to 15 minutes lapsed between when Hsiung moved the table out of her way to pass through the gate and when security personnel realized it.

The Transportation Security Administration said officials at Baltimore's airport detained Hsiung after checking passengers on the flights that left San Francisco during the time after she passed through the checkpoint until SFO security officials stopped flights.

Hsiung, whose host family lives in the Baltimore area, told a federal air marshal in Baltimore that she didn't know she had to wait in line at the security checkpoint for screening.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)