Passengers on a Frontier Airlines plane carrying Hurricane Katrina evacuees from Houston to Denver subdued a man and tied him up with duct tape after he assaulted a flight attendant, police said.
The altercation began Tuesday when Jason Glen Tervort, 26, walked up to the flight attendant in the center aisle and said: “Ladies and gentleman, I have an announcement to make. My name is Jason,” according to the federal arrest warrant.
When the flight attendant tried to get Tervort back to his seat, he allegedly poked her while saying, “I’m a man,” then began pushing and slapping her.
Several men got out of their seats to subdue Tervort, who was spitting, biting and yelling profanities, Denver police spokeswoman Virginia Lopez said Wednesday. The men then used duct tape to tie Tervort’s arms and legs to a rail on the seats.
Tervort, who had recently been discharged from the Army, did not appear to be one of the evacuees. It was unclear how many of the men who subdued him were among the evacuees being taken to a shelter in Colorado.
Tervort suffered minor injuries in the incident. Police officers who met the plane at the airport noticed blood on the floor where Tervort had been tied up.
None of the passengers who subdued Tervort will face charges, police said. “They used the amount of force necessary,” Lopez said.
Tervort faces a federal charge of interference with flight crew members and attendants.
Frontier Airlines spokesman Joe Hodas said the flight attendant was shaken, but physically unharmed.