American Airlines Passenger Tased by Authorities as He Refuses to Leave Plane
Miami FL April 24 2018 A man was hit with a Taser on an American Airlines flight after he allegedly fondled a female passenger.
The man was accused of groping a female passenger at the gate before the Chicago-bound flight took off from Miami Sunday night.
Footage of the incident was recorded by a fellow passenger and shows suspect Jacob A. Garcia refusing to get off the plane after authorities instructed him to do so.
Before takeoff, the boyfriend of the woman Garcia allegedly groped, informed authorities that his girlfriend was being inappropriately touched, cops say.
As the authorities entered the plane, it was clear that the passengers wanted Garcia off the aircraft.
Garcia can be heard talking back to the officers and refused to get off the plane. Finally, police had enough and Tased him.
The passengers broke out in applause, but somehow, the Taser didn’t appear to bother Garcia at first.
In the video, he taunts one of the officers, calling him “a little baby.”
He was then hit with repeated rounds of the Taser until he was finally subdued and handcuffed.
Garcia was charged with battery, depriving an officer of a firearm, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, cops say.
“On Sunday evening, a disagreement occurred between two passengers on American Airlines flight 2446 from Miami to Chicago O’Hare,” American Airlines said in a statement to CBS News. “The aircraft was still at the gate in Miami, and the instigating passenger was asked by our Miami team members to deplane and he refused.
“In accordance with our procedures, American began the process of deplaning the entire aircraft. During that process, a physical altercation between the same two passengers took place. Once law enforcement was on the aircraft, the passenger then became combative with the officers from the Miami-Dade Police Department. The same passenger was subsequently arrested by law enforcement. We will cooperate with the Miami-Dade Police Department on this matter,”
The flight, which was scheduled to take-off at 9:30 p.m., later departed about an hour later.
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