DENVER (KDVR) — A Cañon City man struck a flight attendant and urinated on a seat on a Denver-bound Alaska Airlines flight after refusing to wear a face mask, according to an arrest affidavit.
Landon Perry Grier, 24, is charged with interfering with a flight crew. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, the incident took place on Alaska Airlines flight 1474 from Seattle to Denver on March 9.
Airline staff asked Grier to wear a face covering eight to 10 times, as required by the company.
“Grier initially ignored the flight attendant, but then struck her arm,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Later, two other flight attendants responded to a call button that had been pressed by a passenger who reported Grier was urinating in his seat area.
One of the flight attendants saw Grier peeing and asked him to sit down.
According to the affidavit, the flight attendant 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.'”
A passenger also reported that Grier urinated on a paper bag she was carrying.
The passengers seated near Grier were then reseated, and the captain was alerted to the issue.
“(A flight attendant) stated passenger Grier’s actions delayed her preparation of the aircraft cabin for landing for approximately ten minutes, endangering the safety of the passengers,” the affidavit states.
Meanwhile, the captain and first officer were dealing with an unrelated mechanical issue and were preparing to make an emergency landing at Denver International Airport.
“(The captain) stated the passenger disruption occurred during a high work load environment while they were descending over the mountains in turbulent conditions. The disruption caused the pilot crew to divert attention from their emergency landing preparation,” the affidavit stated.
Grier told investigators he was returning to Colorado after working at a gold mine in Alaska. Before leaving Alaska, he had one beer. When connecting in Seattle, he had three to four additional beers and “a couple of shots” before boarding the plane to Denver, according to the affidavit. He also reportedly took an over-the-counter pain reliever because he had body aches from working.
“He said he 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,” the affidavit stated.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation with help from the Denver Police Department.