A Polish man is in Colombian police custody after he was filmed punching a police officer as he was being ejected from a Spirit Airlines flight headed for Florida on Sunday.
In a now viral video, the unidentified male passenger could be seen getting into a verbal argument with another man onboard the Spirit Airlines plane as it was waiting to leave the gate at Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport in Barranquilla.
The man, whom police say also has a home in the United States, could be heard telling the other passenger: “You wish you could be in America.”
He could later be heard shouting “F— you, bitch” at the other passenger as he was being escorted off the flight by a flight attendant and two police officers.
But a cop appears to put him in a chokehold, and the passenger responds by punching and grabbing at the officer.
“F— you bitch,” he says again, this time apparently directed at the police officer.
He charged at the police officer one more time before he fell into a row of seats and was pushed to the front of the plane, where the cops wrestled him to the ground and was taken into custody.
“We do not tolerate aggressive behavior of any kind, and this passenger is no longer welcome on any of our flights,” a spokesperson for Spirit Airlines told the Post.
“We will provide any necessary assistance to the relevant authorities as they investigate this matter.”
Police Gen. Jorge Urquijo claimed the unruly passenger was drunk when police arrived on the flight, and attributed his behavior to an ongoing custody battle with the mother of his son, who currently lives in Colombia.
He claimed the court did not rule in the passenger’s favor “and according to preliminary information, this would have led to his state of alteration coupled with alcohol consumption,” he told Blu Radio on Sunday.
Urquijo added that the passenger “is being prosecuted for the crime against a public servant, and in the next few hours, he will be placed at the disposal of the competent authorities,” and noted that they did not find any previous criminal record for the suspect.