Plane Is Diverted After Man Assaults Crew Member, U.S. Says
A Kansas man is facing federal charges after he grabbed a flight attendant on an American Airlines flight on Tuesday night, threw the person to the ground and tried to drag them up an aisle, federal prosecutors said.
The man, Julius Jordan Priester, 24, of Wichita, Kan., was on a plane flying from Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Conn., to Chicago when he began acting erratically around 10 p.m. — some 30 minutes into the one-hour flight, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Connecticut.
According to an affidavit filed by an F.B.I. special agent, Mr. Priester began taking off his shirt and ran toward the back of the plane while yelling, 'Help me.' He then grabbed a flight attendant, who was seated, by the shirt collar and forced the person to the ground, shouting, 'You're coming with me,' according to the affidavit. He then tried to drag the attendant up the aisle, ignoring flight crew members' calls for him to stop, it said.
Passengers helped get Mr. Priester back into a seat, where he continued to be disruptive and speak incoherently, prosecutors said. The captain declared an emergency, and the flight was diverted back to Bradley Airport. Connecticut State Police removed Mr. Priester from the plane, and an ambulance took him to a hospital for evaluation, prosecutors said. He was arrested at the hospital, according to the affidavit.
Mr. Priester was charged with interference with flight crew members and attendants, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Mr. Priester is being held pending a bond hearing scheduled for Friday, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors filed a motion for pretrial detention in part because Mr. Priester has a criminal history in Kansas, including a conviction for aggravated assault and a parole violation charge.
A public defender for Mr. Priester did not immediately return requests for comment on Wednesday night.
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