A passenger on an American Airlines flight has been accused of misbehaving with a woman seated next to him, according to a federal criminal complaint that was filed on Friday. The flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Salt Lake City, Utah, was diverted to Oklahoma after the incident.
As per the complaint, James Clayton Cholewinski-Boy grabbed the woman “by the crotch”, according to reports. She was seated between James and her daughter. As soon as the flight took off, James began touching the woman’s arm. She tried to avoid by pushing his hands away but that did not help.
James, thereafter, “forcibly grabbed her by the crotch,” the complaint said. After she pushed him away and asked him to stop misbehaving, “James threw up his hands and said ‘sorry,'” according to the complaint.
Instead of wasting another second, she alerted the crew on the flight following which she along with her daughter were immediately shifted to other seats. The pilot diverted the flight to Tulsa International Airport as the airport police arrested James for public intoxication, as per the complaint. He was charged with abusive sexual contact.
“The public should know these allegations pertain to criminal sexual misconduct by Mr. Cholewinski-Boy against a female passenger, not a threat to the plane or air travel,” Trent Shores, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma, said in a statement.
American Airlines also addressed the incident in a statement and said, “The quick actions of our crew ensured the safety and wellbeing of our customers on the flight.”
