Ex-California police captain accused of midair lewd behavior after allegedly downing entire bottle of bubbly
A federal grand jury has indicted an ex-California Highway Patrol captain after he allegedly downed an entire bottle of sparkling wine before displaying lewd behavior on a Los Angeles-bound flight from Florida in April.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said 49-year-old Dennis Wally Woodbury of Azusa, California, was charged with a single count of abusive sexual contact within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
Woodbury, according to a press release from the DOJ, is a former California Highway Patrol captain who was dismissed from state service, and on April 13, he was a passenger on a JetBlue Airways flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Los Angeles.
Woodbury allegedly engaged in inappropriate conduct with two male flight attendants.
Before the plane pulled away from the gate, he showed one of the flight attendants a picture of a dog with pornographic imagery in the background, the DOJ said.
The Sacramento Bee reported that prosecutors claimed Woodbury had been "drinking heavily" on the plane and even drank a full bottle of Prosecco sparkling wine within a 3-hour period.
Woodbury later told one of the flight attendants the two of them should go on a cruise together, before making a "crude hand gesture," the DOJ said.
After passengers were provided with a meal on the flight, the second flight attendant reportedly collected meal trays and walked past Woodbury.
The suspect then allegedly used his left hand to slap the flight attendant's buttocks before yelling that he loved him.
The DOJ said later in the flight, Woodbury entered the front galley where the first flight attendant was, before pulling down his own trousers and underwear, exposing himself.
Woodbury was told his behavior was inappropriate, according to the DOJ. A short time later, he asked for more wine, but the request was denied.
Once he was denied the wine, Woodbury allegedly pulled his pants and underwear down once more, and the flight attendant told him, "Enough, go back to your seat."
Both flight attendants told law enforcement officials afterward that they never consented to Woodbury's behavior.
JetBlue did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on the matter.
Woodbury appeared in federal court last month and was freed on $50,000 bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 12 in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
His charge – abusive sexual contact within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the U.S. – is a felony that the DOJ said carries a statutory maximum sentence of two years in federal prison.
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