An airline pilot accused of stealing a man's rental car during a bizarre encounter has been arrested. 
 
 The 43-year-old pilot from charter airline Omni Air was arrested Saturday night for investigation of vehicle theft and DUI, King County sheriff's Sgt. Cindi West said Monday. 
 
 A Bainbridge, Wash., man told police he got into his rental car at a hotel near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and a stranger climbed into the back seat. When the victim asked the stranger what he was doing in the car, the man replied, "You know, you know," West said. 
 
 The victim pointed a handgun at the intruder and told him to get out, officials said. After a scuffle in which the man struck the intruder several times with the handgun, West said the man got out and the intruder chased him around the car. 
 
 The intruder then jumped into the driver's seat and drove off, she said. Officers found the car and a bloody man in a nearby parking lot. 
 
 Jeff Crippen, president and CEO of Omni Air, told The Seattle Times he didn't have the full report but planned a thorough investigation. The name of the pilot was not released. 
 
 "We want to emphasize that the crewmember was off duty at the time of the incident and was not scheduled to report for duty for 12 hours," airline communications director Jeff Staton told the Associated Press by email. "The crewmember is currently on suspension while the facts are being investigated." 
 
 The pilot, from Tulsa, Okla., had been scheduled to fly to Tokyo on Sunday morning, West said. The flight was delayed 24 hours and took off Monday morning for Japan, said airport spokesman Perry Cooper. 
 
 Omni Air's Staton confirmed that a replacement crewmember handled the delayed flight. 
 
 The Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating. ||||| Originally published Monday, November 5, 2012 at 7:29 PM 
 
 A pilot for a charter airline was arrested in SeaTac on suspicion of car theft and DUI, hours before he was scheduled to fly a commercial plane to Japan, the King County Sheriff's Office reported. 
 
 A 43-year-old pilot for Omni Air International, a charter airline out of Tulsa, Okla., was arrested Saturday night at a WallyPark in SeaTac on suspicion of car theft and DUI, hours before he was scheduled to fly a commercial plane from Seattle to Japan on Sunday morning, said the King County Sheriff's Office. 
 
 When contacted about the arrest, Jeff Crippen, president and CEO of the airline, said, "Wow. I don't have the full report. What we'll do is do a thorough investigation into the charges and go from there. That's all we can do. I can't comment on anything else." 
 
 According to the Sheriff's Office, the incident began at the parking lot of the Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center when a 66-year-old Bainbridge Island man said he got into his rental car at the Hilton and the pilot got into his back seat. 
 
 The report said the victim asked the pilot what he was doing in his car, and the pilot replied, "You know, you know." 
 
 The report said there then was "a brief exchange of words" and the Bainbridge Island man pointed a handgun at the pilot and told him to get out. 
 
 "A struggle ensued and the victim struck the suspect several times with the handgun. The victim got out of the car, and the suspect chased him around the car. The suspect then got into the driver's seat and fled in the victim's car," said the report. 
 
 SeaTac police, who are contracted by the Sheriff's Office to patrol that area, were called around 8:40 p.m., the report said. 
 
 The Sheriff's Office said that employees at the WallyPark, which is next to the Hilton, called to report "a suspicious, bloody male in the parking lot. When police arrived they found the suspect and the victim's car." 
 
 The pilot, who is from Oklahoma, was arrested and booked into King County Jail, the report said. He was released without bail just before 6 p.m. Monday. 
 
 According to its website, Omni Air's fleet includes Boeing 767s and 777s that can carry 240 to 380 passengers. 
 
 According to Perry Cooper, spokesman for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the flight was delayed 24 hours and took off for Japan at 7:30 Monday morning. He said it was listed as a Boeing 767-300. 
 
 The FAA said it was aware of the incident and investigating. 
 
 Seattle Times news researcher Gene Balk contributed. 
 
 Erik Lacitis: 206-464-2237 or elacitis@seattletimes.com
– A commercial pilot has been arrested for a bizarre carjacking just hours before he was supposed to fly a plane from Seattle to Tokyo. Police say the Omni Air pilot climbed into a stranger's rental car at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and refused to leave even after the driver pulled a handgun, the Seattle Times reports. After a scuffle in which the suspect was hit several times with the handgun, the driver left the vehicle. The suspect chased the driver—who still had the gun—around the vehicle several times before making off with the car. Cops found the bloodied pilot and the car in a nearby parking lot soon afterward and he was charged with car theft and DUI. The name of the pilot, who is from Oklahoma, has not been released. "We want to emphasize that the crew member was off duty at the time of the incident and was not scheduled to report for duty for 12 hours," an airline spokesman tells the AP. "The crew member is currently on suspension while the facts are being investigated."