On a United Airlines cross-country flight this week, a Florida man brutally assaulted a deaf, mute passenger while he slept, leaving blood splattered on board.
The brutal assault occurred about two hours into United Airlines Flight 2247’s flight from San Francisco to Washington Dulles on Monday.
According to the criminal complaint, the incident began when Everett Chad Nelson, 44, got up to go to the bathroom.
On his way back to his seat, Nelson stopped on the 12th floor and “without warning, began physically assaulting the sleeping male passenger by repeatedly punching him in the face and head until he bled,” the complaint said. is stated.
Sandhya Gupta, who was sitting in the row behind the victim, told ABC 7 News: “The next thing I know, all I hear is blood-curdling screams.”
“He was just very violent and very aggressive, punching the guy in the window seat in front of me, and it was vicious. This wasn’t like a barroom, it was like, ‘What? “It’s not like, ‘I’m going to throw a punch or something,’ it’s that this was malicious,” he said.
Officials said Nelson rained blows on the defenseless man for a full minute. Finally, a good Samaritan jumped in and ripped him off the victim.
Nelson split the man’s nose, causing blood to splatter on the seat, cabin walls, windows and the sleeve of Nelson’s green windbreaker, according to the complaint. The victim was left with two black eyes.
After the two were separated, a doctor who happened to be on board treated the man for his injuries, at which time passengers and crew realized he was deaf and unable to speak.
“When he tried to communicate with us in sign language, we realized he was deaf and mute,” he said.
He was able to communicate with United Airlines flight attendants through phone messages.
“He also kept texting me saying, ‘I’m so scared,’ like it was terrible,” he said.
Nelson escaped unharmed, and there was “no indication that (the alleged victim) struck Nelson in self-defense,” the complaint states.
The flight attendant moved Nelson to the front seat and kept watch over him until the plane landed.
The complaint does not state a motive or say whether the two had any relationship before the seemingly sudden attack.
Gupta wrote to ABC 7 that during a text message exchange with the victim, the flight attendant said the suspect claimed the victim had previously attacked him on the street, but the victim did not know the man. He said he had never seen one in his life.
United Airlines said there were 82 passengers and six crew members on board the flight.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the TSA contacted the FBI during the flight and indicated there was a “Level 2 disturbance” on board, which amounted to “acts of physical abuse.” This puts the incident one level above Level 1, which is “sabotage,” but before Level 3, which is “attempted or actual intrusion onto the flight deck.”
“Thanks to the quick actions of our flight attendants and customers, a passenger was detained on Monday’s flight from San Francisco to Washington Dulles after he became physically aggressive toward another customer,” a United spokesperson said in a statement. “It was done,” he said.
“The plane landed safely and was met by emergency personnel and local law enforcement.”
Nelson was charged in the U.S. Special Aircraft Jurisdiction with one count of assault by beating, assault, and wounding.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to one year in prison.
The FAA has reported 1,748 incidents of unruly passenger behavior so far in 2024, creeping closer to last year’s total of 20,76 incidents, according to the FAA’s website.
This figure is still significantly lower than the peak of 5,973 fraudulent passenger incidents in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
