The Spirit Airlines passenger behind last month’s viral meltdown as she was escorted off the plane allegedly snapped her teeth and growled at fellow travelers before police intervened.
Lonnieka Dillard was taken into custody on March 23 by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police over her strange behavior onboard the California-bound flight, according to KVVU-TV, citing an arrest record.
Police arrived at Terminal 1 at the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas around 1 a.m. after a Spirit supervisor requested Dillard’s removal from the plane due to “disruptive behavior and being a threat to other passengers.”
As the plane prepared to take off, Dillard had reportedly been “cussing and growling at other (passengers).”
The supervisor claimed to police she tried reasoning with Dillard before calling law enforcement, but the passenger “began yelling and screaming at her,” the arrest record shows.
The flight crew on board also told police they witnessed Dillard “snapping her teeth at other passengers near her in a motion as if she was biting at them.”
The two officers who made first contact with the Santa Monica, Calif. woman said they “calmly explained” that she was to grab her things and get off the plane when she erupted into a bizarre rant and refused to deboard.
Several officers would end up being involved in removing Dillard from the plane.
Police reported that she claimed that the officers were racist for removing her, and she allegedly yelled and made “random and racist statements” to the officers during her detainment.
One of the arresting officers reported that Dillard allegedly lunged at one of them when they attempted to put her in handcuffs.
Dillard also allegedly made “a biting motion” toward the officer while he tried removing her from the plane, according to the documents.
The outlet also noted that the crew was forced to remove a number of passengers from the aircraft so officers could “physically escort” Dillard off and bring her to a patrol car on the tarmac.
In the viral video showing Dillard’s arrest, she was heard screaming at officers, “I can’t breathe,” before a flight attendant came over the intercom telling everyone they would need to “deplane the aircraft.”
The supervisor told police that Dillard was prohibited from rebooking another flight with Spirit and that airline officials wanted the Santa Monica woman removed from the plane.
Dillard was released from custody after being booked for her onboard antics and charged with violating airport rules.
She is due at the Clark County Justice Court on May 29.
