It was a fateful day at the airport when a $43,000 drug deal was about to take place, with Tim Allen at the center of it all. At just 25 years old, Tim was a scruffy-looking young man who enjoyed cracking jokes, but little did he know that his life was about to take a drastic turn.

Tim and his partner had arranged to sell a pound and a half of cocaine that they had hidden in a luggage locker. While Tim stood guard outside, his partner went inside to meet the buyer and hand over the key to the locker. The plan was simple – the buyer would get the cocaine and hand over the $43,000 in return.

However, things took a dark turn when the buyer revealed himself to be an undercover cop. Instead of handing over the money, he promptly arrested Tim and his partner on the spot.

Tim Allen, who would later become the beloved star of the hit sitcom Home Improvement, found himself facing the consequences of his actions on that October day in 1978 at the Kalamazoo, Michigan airport. But little did he know that this arrest would ultimately save his life.