A 29-year-old Denver man accused of assaulting two teenage girls on an airplane flight has been arrested by federal authorities.
Prosecutors say Ezra James Wallace, 29, took photographs of one of the girls despite her objections and even though she covered her face with her hands. He also bound the hands of both girls with athletic tape.
The incident happened Aug. 1 on a Southwest Airlines flight from San Diego to Denver, according to the Colorado U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“The tape was tightly wrapped around (the victim’s) hands and was difficult to remove,” prosecutors said. Wallace “then attempted to bind the other girl’s hands together.”
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.
“Twisted behavior against juveniles on airplanes won’t be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said in a statement.
Wallace later told FBI investigators that he had drank about a half-pint of vodka before to the incident.
According to court documents, Wallace had a skateboard on the flight with him and pulled it out from under his seat to strike up conversation with the younger of the two sisters because she had “attitude.”
He pulled the athletic tape from a backpack he had on the flight.
After the older sister’s hands were taped, she protested and Wallace responded with a “creepy laugh,” according to the criminal complaint in the case.
Wallace was questioned Aug. 13 about the allegations by special agent Joel Nishida with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In a written statement, Wallace admitted to taping both girls’ hands and said, “It was all in good fun.”
He also stated he was “drunk and blurry” and that it was hard to remember details.
Wallace appeared in federal court in Denver today.
His father, Doug Wallace, also went to court to support his son.
He said that his son has never been in trouble before and that he is not an alcoholic — he just “drinks more than he should.”
Ezra Wallace took a flight back home to Colorado from San Diego after a visit with his sister, who is a naval officer in San Diego, his father said.
“He made a boneheaded decision, and sometimes, you just want to smack ’em,” Doug Wallace said of his son.
If convicted, Ezra Wallace faces up to a year in federal prison for assaulting one of the victims, and not more than six months imprisonment and up to a $5,000 fine for assaulting the other victim.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
