Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Elderly man punches teen passenger for refusing to shut off phone.

From NY Daily News:
Russell Miller, 68, has been charged with misdemeanor battery after a Southwest flight crew and fellow plane passengers say he socked a teen who hadn't turned off his iPhone as the Las Vegas to Boise flight began its descent.

Miller defended the swipe, telling police he "felt he was protecting the entire plane and its occupants."

But the plane's crew and local authorities felt otherwise, and Miller was arrested with the plane landed.

The 15-year-old passenger was playing games and listening to music when flight attendants announced that all electronic devices should be turned off for the plane's approach to land, Boise's KBOI2.com reports.

Miller took matters into his own hands when the teen sitting in front of him failed to switch off his iPhone, punching him in the arm.

"He punched him so hard there was a mark on the teen's arm .... That gave us probable cause to believe the reports from the other passengers," police Lt. Kent Lipple told KBOI2.

Lipple was one of several law enforcement officials called to the scene to await the plane's arrival to arrest Miller, who was booked into a Boise jail.

The teen, who was not identified, is not a Boise resident and was flying alone, according to KBOI2.