Two sailors walk to the main gate at Naval Air Station Key West in May 2008. (Rachel McMarr/U.S. Navy )
MARATHON, Fla. (Tribune News Service) — The driver of a car that went past a security gate at Naval Air Station Key West without stopping Thursday afternoon, prompting a full lockdown at the base, is a member of the military, the base confirmed Friday.
“A service member failed to stop at the security gate of Naval Air Station Key West’s Trumbo Point Annex yesterday, March 16,” base spokeswoman Danette Baso Silvers said in a statement. “The member was located by base security and Key West police, and the incident is currently under investigation.”
Baso Silver would not confirm with which branch of service the person serves, and he’s not been identified.
The car drove through the gate around 3:30 p.m., and base security immediately locked down all over gates, Baso Silvers said.
They eventually found the person, and the base was reopened at 4:55 p.m.
“Any violation to our security measures is taken very seriously, and we want to remind personnel to always follow proper security procedures,” Baso Silvers said.
Trumbo Point is one of the Navy’s seven annexes spread across the Lower Keys, occupying nearly 30 miles of shoreline.
The heavily patrolled bases have been subject to several security breaches in recent years.
Last March, a group of five “foreign nationals” were detained by base security after they entered on NAS Key West’s Truman Annex. They were released by federal agents after it could not be concluded that they intentionally trespassed on the base.
Since the fall of 2018, four Chinese nationals have been arrested on charges of taking photographs of military facilities in Key West.
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