Dagger found in carry-on luggage

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Authorities took a Santa Barbara man into custody after finding a dagger in his carry-on luggage at Santa Barbara Municipal Airport.
Transportation Security Administration agents manning a checkpoint at Gate 2 just before 6 p.m. noticed a suspicious object in a backpack as it passed through an X-ray machine, Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte said.

“They say, wow, that looks like a knife,” he said. “…Sure enough, they go ahead and open it up and find that there’s a very large knife.”
Approximately 10 inches in length, including the handle and blade, the dagger had two sharpened edges, Sgt. Duarte said, making it an illegal weapon in California.
He said the federal security agents reportedly watched Nicholas Lynn Johnson, 19, place the bag on the conveyor belt. Johnson also allegedly admitted to owning the bag prior to its contents being searched, authorities said.
“We attempted to go ahead and ask Johnson about the knife, but he didn’t want to talk to us,” Sgt. Duarte said.
Police booked the 19-year-old into jail for alleged possession of an illegal weapon in lieu of $20,000 bail. Sgt. Duarte did not know if charges had been filed against the suspect.