A man from Connecticut was busted at LaGuardia Airport when he tried to pass through security with a frightening-looking set of brass knuckles affixed with a razor-sharp knife, sources said.
The suspect – identified by Port Authority cops as Richard M. Johnson, 49, of Easton, Ct. – was caught at 6:50 a.m. Wednesday inside Terminal A on the C concourse as he was being screened for a flight to Raleigh, N.C., sources said.
TSA screeners spotted the “knuckle knife” after they pushed his items in a bin through an x-ray machine prior to him boarding his flight, according to a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman.
Johnson was charged with weapons possession and released on a desk appearance ticket, according to records from the Queens District Attorney’s office.
Johnson’s arrest occurred almost simultaneously to a similar incident that unfolded Wednesday at JFK Airport when a man tried to catch a flight to Los Angeles.
Richard Forti, 55, of Annville Township, Pa., was charged with felony weapon possession after he was caught by TSA during the screening process with a loaded .32 handgun and a “cat’s eye” set of brass knuckles.
Two brothers of Forti told The Post that their sibling had been diagnosed with schizophrenia about a decade ago.