KAPAA, Kauai » The surfer who drowned Dec. 11 had spent three years in federal prison for shooting up Lihue Airport in 2003.

Lloyd Albinio, 30, died after wiping out on a wave in large surf at Kealia Beach Park on Kauai.

In 2003, Albinio, who was suffering mental problems due to drug abuse at the time, threatened a Transportation Security Administration officer at Lihue Airport, entered a waiting area, and fired his handgun into the floor and the ceiling. He also stood on a chair and ordered about 200 people to get down on the floor, and put the gun to his head before police apprehended him.

He pleaded guilty to assaulting a federal officer later that year and was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and five years supervised release.

At Kealia on Dec. 11, Rick Taylor, a visitor from Wyoming, saw Albinio take off on a wave near the lifeguard stand.

“;He was riding a wave and he crashed into it,”; Taylor said yesterday. “;He didn't come out.”;

Taylor added that his board “;was kicking around”; in the surf as he and another surfer tried to signal lifeguards. Lifeguards brought Albinio to shore, but attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.