TUPELO, Miss. (AP) -- A man charged with stealing a plane he didn't know how to land will remain behind bars, denied bond by a judge who took a dim view of his lawyer's promise he wouldn't take off again.
Airport worker Cory Wayne Patterson allegedly stole the plane Saturday after posting a goodbye message saying he "never actually wanted to hurt anyone." Police said he called 911 threatening to crash the plane into a Walmart and circled for five hours over unnerved Mississippians before safely landing in a soybean field.
At an initial court appearance Sunday in Tupelo, Patterson, 29, of Shannon, was formally charged with grand larceny and making terrorist threats, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported.
Patterson, a 10-year Tupelo Aviation employee, fueled planes at the Tupelo Regional Airport, took off in the fully-fueled twin-engine Beechcraft King Air C90A shortly after 5 a.m., Quaka said. He called a Lee County 911 dispatcher 15 minutes later to say he planned to crash into a Tupelo Walmart, prompting officers to evacuate the building and a nearby convenience store, the chief said.
Jimmy Huddleston, left, and Daniel Alsup, right, discuss an airplane that crash-landed in a field near their Ripley, Miss. homes on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. Authorities say a man who stole a plane and flew it over Mississippi after threatening to crash it into a Walmart store faces charges of grand larceny and terroristic threats. Tupelo Police Chief John Quaka said Cory Wayne Patterson didn't have a pilot's license but had some flight instruction and was an employee of Tupelo Aviation. (AP Photo/Nikki Boertman)
Roxanne Ward views cell phone video she took of the commotion following a crash-landing in a field near Ripley, Miss., on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. Authorities say a man who stole a plane and flew it over Mississippi after threatening to crash it into a Walmart store faces charges of grand larceny and terroristic threats. Tupelo Police Chief John Quaka said Cory Wayne Patterson didn't have a pilot's license but had some flight instruction and was an employee of Tupelo Aviation. (AP Photo/Nikki Boertman)
A stolen Beechcraft King Air C90A circles the Tupelo, Miss., Regional Airport Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. A man who stole the plane and flew it over northern Mississippi after threatening to crash it into a Walmart faces charges of grand larceny and terroristic threats, authorities said Saturday. (Thomas Wells/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)