Police ponder charges in airport grenade incident December 18, 2001 Posted: 10:33 AM EST (1533 GMT) SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- Police said Monday they have not decided whether to charge a New York woman in a case that temporarily shut down San Diego International Airport and neighboring streets Sunday afternoon. American Airlines Flight 788 bound for Chicago had pulled away from the terminal and was preparing to take off from San Diego International Airport when 57-year-old Lolita Austria of Rochester pulled a blue sweatshirt from a bag in an overhead bin and watched as what appeared to be a grenade fell to the floor and rolled down the aisle, police said. A bomb squad and a bomb-sniffing dog went through the plane and quickly determined that the grenade was an FAA-approved dummy used to test the vigilance of screeners at security checkpoints, said Lt. John Forsythe of the San Diego Harbor Police. It had been taken -- in a bag containing the sweatshirt -- from a security checkpoint near the X-ray machine, said Marty Heires, a spokesman for American. "The woman was passing by and liked it and grabbed it," he said. "It apparently caught her eye." The screeners -- employed by Huntleigh Security -- had passed the test by identifying the object as it passed through the machine, Forsythe said. The sweatshirt and phony grenade were then placed in a bag and left near the screening machine, Forsythe said. "Right afterwards, this woman who picked it up came through," he said. The airport was temporarily closed and nearby streets were evacuated. Austria and her sister were led away in handcuffs. Asked if Austria stole the bag, he said, "We believe so." A final police report will be forwarded Tuesday to the city attorney, who will decide whether to prosecute. She could be charged with petty theft, Forsythe said. The Federal Aviation Administration could also assess a civil fine. The MD-80, carrying 108 passengers and five crew members, was delayed three hours while passengers were rescreened. After being questioned by police and the FBI, Austria and her sister were allowed to leave later in the evening pending possible charges, Forsythe said. Though the entire airport was closed for a short period of time, only two flights were delayed, he said. -- David Mueller / HNL kawika42@mac.com http://www.quanterium.com