Alcohol appears to be a factor in the arrest of yet another airline passenger in a disturbance, this one accused of binding the hands of a teenage girl on a Southwest Airlines flight.
In the past year, at least four men and women have been arrested in Denver for inappropriate behavior on airplanes, and all of the incidents involved alcohol abuse.
This time, prosecutors say Ezra James Wallace, 29, of Colorado Springs took photographs of one of two teenage girls while she tried to cover her face with her hands. He also bound the hands of her sister with athletic tape.
The incident happened Aug. 1 on a plane headed from San Diego to Denver after Wallace drank a half-pint of vodka, according to an affidavit.
A flight crew member saw the 16-year-old girl whose hands had been bound and moved the sisters to seats in a different row.
The affidavit says Wallace pulled the athletic tape from a backpack he had on the flight. After the girl’s hands were taped, she protested and Wallace responded with a “creepy laugh,” the documents say.
Wallace admitted to the FBI that he had done the taping and said “it was all in good fun.” He also told the agent that he was “drunk and blurry” and it was hard to remember details.
Wallace appeared in federal court in Denver on Tuesday to hear the charges against him.
If convicted, Wallace faces up to a year in prison for assaulting one of the victims, and not more than 6 months’ imprisonment for assaulting the other victim.
Christina Szele, a New York woman accused of assaulting two flight attendants on a JetBlue plane, also appeared in court Tuesday because she is back in custody for violating the conditions of her release on bond.
Szele was cited for assault in New York and tested positive twice for cocaine use while out of jail, prosecutors say.
Szele was described as intoxicated and smoking a cigarette during a New York to San Francisco flight June 17. The plane had to be diverted to Denver because she physically and verbally attacked two flight attendants.
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
