San Francisco police were called to remove a “disruptive passenger” on a United Airlines flight scheduled to fly from California to Texas after he and his wife were asked to go to their assigned seats.
The man was videotaped assaulting an attendant before the red-eye flight took off. After striking the flight staffer, eyewitnesses also said the man almost jumped out of the plane — igniting another concern about his well-being.
Responding officers identified the man as Cody Benjamin Lovins, 47, of Montgomery, Texas.
According to police, after being detained, Lovins was cited for battery and released, NBC Bay Area reported.
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Passenger Naya Jimenez was on the same early Monday morning flight scheduled to leave on May 1. The couple was occupying her seat, so she asked them to slide over so she can sit in an empty seat, but they blocked her, according to Fox News.
An attendant asked the man and his wife to move to their assigned seats. Jimenez told ABC News the man did not like it.
“They had to bring in a gate attendant to try to talk to both of them,” Jimenez explained.
The attendant “just kept explaining like ‘Sir, doesn’t look like your wife is assigned here. Could we please like escort her to her correct seat?’”
Jimenez continued, “He was just like ‘No, we insist. This is what we were assigned to.”
Reportedly, at least one of the couple’s seats was in first class. The altercation happened in economy class.
After getting settled in her seat, a little after midnight, Jimenez said the altercation started to bubble up. At some point, the witness pulled out her cellphone and started recording.
“Then, he began slurring his speech a little bit, like, ‘Sir, why are you smiling at me?’ That’s the first thing he…
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