LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A Santa Monica woman was arrested after reportedly “cussing and growling at other passengers and flight crew” while waiting to depart on a flight out of Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.
According to an arrest report from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Lonnieka Dillard was arrested on March 23 and she faces one charge related to FTC/airport rules and regulations.
The arrest report says that officers were dispatched on a passenger disturbance call in Terminal 1 at Harry Reid just after 1 a.m. on March 23. The call described a Black female passenger, later identified as Dillard, who had boarded a Spirit Airlines flight.
Police contacted the flight crew and a Spirit gate supervisor who said that Dillard was being denied from the flight due to her “disruptive behavior and being a threat to other passengers.” The supervisor said Dillard would also be prohibited from rebooking another flight with the airline and that Spirit Airlines wanted the suspect removed from the plane.
The supervisor told police that she attempted to reason with Dillard, but the suspect refused to cooperate and “began yelling and screaming at her,” according to the police report. A flight crew member said that Dillard was also “snapping her teeth at other passengers near her in a motion as if she was biting them.”
Two Metro officers made contact with Dillard in her aisle seat on the plane and “calmly explained” to her that she was being removed from the flight and would be denied boarding with the airline, adding that she would need to exit the plane if she wanted to discuss the situation further.
Police say the suspect refused to get up, said she wanted to go home, and told officers to leave her alone.
The report explains that police politely asked her to leave again and she responded by yelling that she was not going to. She also reportedly claimed that the officers were racist. She continued yelling and made “random and racist statements” to the officers.
When police attempted to handcuff the suspect, she reportedly lunged at one of them and made a biting motion at him. She continued making the same biting motion after being handcuffed and still refused to leave the plane.
Police said three-quarters of the passengers had to be removed in order for officers to physically escort Dillard off the plane to a patrol car waiting on the tarmac.
Dillard was booked into the Clark County Detention Center. Her next appearance in Clark County Justice Court is scheduled for May 29.
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