Yahoo Finance Man faces 20 years in prison for 'urinating on plane seat'
A man is facing 20 years in jail for allegedly refusing to wear a face mask on board a flight before urinating in the cabin.
The FBI arrested 24-year-old Landon Grier of Canon City after his flight landed on March 9, according to an affidavit filed in US District Court in Denver.
Grier was asked by a female flight attendant “eight to ten times” to put a face covering on but refused and “then began to push and swat her hand away as she tried to gently tap his shoulder to get his attention”, according to an affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Martin Daniell III, who interviewed Grier and crew members.
“He subsequently struck her arm two to three times in an attempt to aggressively dismiss her,” he said.
Later in the flight, two attendants named as KK and KF responded to a call button.
“A passenger reported to flight attendant KK that passenger Grier was urinating in his seat area and KK observed him doing this and told him to sit down,” Daniell wrote.
“Flight attendant KF then observed passenger Grier seated in his seat with his penis out of his pants and she told him to put his penis back in his pants. He responded, ‘I have to pee’.
“Several of the passengers seated around passenger Grier were then reseated and the captain was called to notify him of what had happened.”
It’s alleged Grier’s actions delayed the flight attendant’s preparations for landing “endangering the safety of the passengers”.
The agent said Grier told him he had several beers and “a couple of shots” before boarding the flight, fell asleep on the plane and “awoke to being yelled at by the flight attendants who told him he was peeing.”
“He stated he had no recollection of hitting the flight attendant and didn’t know if he was peeing,” Daniell said.
Grier made an initial court appearance on Thursday. A federal public defender was appointed to represent him. He was released on US$10,000 bond pending his next court appearance set for March 26.
Public defenders do not comment on pending cases, and a call to the US Attorney’s Office in Denver for comment wasn’t immediately returned late Friday.
In a statement, Alaska Airlines said staff “will not tolerate any disturbance onboard our aircraft or at any of the airports we serve”.
with The Associated Press
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