A New Jersey man flying from Miami to Newark has been arrested for threatening flight attendants with violence, harassing other passengers and yelling racist slurs while banging on the cockpit door and demanding to see the pilot, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
Luis A. Vaquero, 27, of Passaic County, was arrested Sunday after landing at Newark Liberty International Airport, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Vikas Khanna said.
He was charged with one count of interference with flight crew members and attendants by assault or intimidation.
The shocking incident began mid-air on Sunday, according to prosecutors. During the three-hour flight, Vaquero got into a verbal altercation with other passengers and flight attendants in a heated exchange of words that included “threats of violence” against a minor with a disability and the “mocking [of] a group of Jewish passengers,” according to the criminal complaint.
After observing Vaquero’s “hostile and intimidating behavior,” a female flight attendant declined to serve him an alcoholic beverage — a refusal that appeared to have angered Vaquero, authorities said.
“You better watch out, s–t’s gonna happen to you,” he reportedly told the crew member, who then was forced to remain in the back of the cabin for the remainder of the flight.
His alleged verbal altercations continued until the flight landed in Newark, leading the crew to request a law enforcement response at the gate.
The situation only escalated from there, according to the affidavit.
When Vaquero heard over the aircraft’s PA system that law enforcement officials were coming to escort him out, he “forced his way to the front of the plane” and began banging on the cockpit door, yelling for the pilot to come outside.
After another flight attendant tried to intervene, Vaquero allegedly yelled at him, saying, “I will really break your f–ng jaw, n–a,’ while continuing with his demands.
“I wanna see that f–ng captain! Come outside you b–h a– n–a,” he reportedly said according to FBI-Newark acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly, who called the new developments “a terrifying attack and attempted breach of the flight deck.”
When he emerged, Vaquero “continued to make threats to the captain while six inches from his face until law enforcement intervened,” prosecutors said.
Vaquero was escorted off the flight and charged by complaint. He appeared Monday in Newark federal court and has since been released.
The charge of interfering with flight crew members carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.