Delta passenger steals tug and crashes it at John Wayne Airport

A Delta Air Lines passenger scheduled to fly from Orange County to Seattle stole an Alaska Airlines tug and crashed it into a vehicle near Gate 7 at John Wayne Airport, then attempted to take an American Airlines lavatory truck before being stopped by Airport Police Services; the Gate 7 area was closed for about 10 minutes, the passenger was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, an air traffic controller mentioned a ground stop that was not officially issued, and flights were briefly halted with no impact on overall airport operations.