A passenger on an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Las Vegas planned to kill a fellow passenger using a makeshift weapon during a violent mid-flight altercation last month. The man, Julio Alvarez Lopez, was arrested at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on January 24, as per a report in the New York Post.
He was charged with "one count of assault with a dangerous weapon". The man was "fidgety" throughout the flight. As per the outlet, he kept on putting and removing his gloves and used the bathroom for a long period during the flight's initial descent. According to Fox News, "he sat down, got up a second time, and went to the restroom, where he was reportedly gone for 'a while'."
When Lopez returned to his assigned seat, he "began punching and hitting" the man seated across the aisle. Further, he tried to stab him in the eye.
An FBI agent wrote in court documents, "During the altercation, (the victim's) wife was screaming at the defendant to stop hitting her husband. (A witness) unbuckled her seatbelt and yelled at the defendant to stop." The woman, who was protecting their seven-year-old son, was also struck by Lopez.
According to the witnesses, there "was blood everywhere," and a "pen and tape bundle" had dropped to the floor. The co-passenger is alive but he was severely injured. Lopez had walked to the front of the aircraft after the fight, yelling, "I'll only talk to the FBI."
Lopez was told to sit down by an onboard law enforcement official, and the flight attendants "worked to provide flex cuffs and the defendant was restrained for the remainder of the flight."
He was arrested by Las Vegas Metropolitan after the plane landed around 8:30 am. The man said that he planned the assault because he "felt the mafia had been chasing him", adding that he had never seen the victim "but planned on killing him." Additionally, he claimed that he armed himself with pens wrapped in rubber bands before boarding the flight.
As per Fox News, he told the investigators that he was seeking asylum in the United States. He also added that he believed the co-passenger was with "the Cartel" and was following him.
The man is due back in court on March 1.
