County attorney: No prosecution for Sky Harbor disruption

PHOENIX – A passenger who was arrested after operations at one terminal of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport were disrupted July 7 for two hours won’t be prosecuted.

Maricopa County Attorney’ Bill Montgomery says a review concluded there’s no reasonable likelihood of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that a felony hoax crime was committed.

A statement released Friday by Montgomery to announce the no-prosecution decision doesn’t identify the man by name, but Phoenix police and court records previously identified him as 61-year-old John Lincoln Nichols of Temecula, California.

Police had said Nichols was arrested after a comment was allegedly made to an airline employee about a bomb but that nothing dangerous was found in Nichols’ bag.

Montgomery says airline and law enforcement personnel dealt with the situation with appropriate “seriousness and professionalism.”