A former NFL player and Boston College football star was arrested on an overnight flight from Boston Logan International Airport for allegedly urinating on another passenger.
The Delta flight, which was headed to Dublin, returned to Boston following a report of an unruly passenger, according to Massachusetts State Police. They arrested 40-year-old Gosder Cherilus, of Wakefield, Massachusetts.
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Cherilus issued a statement with an apology and an explanation on Monday. The woman who was allegedly urinated on described the incident in an interview with NBC10 Boston, saying the man walked up to her, seemingly at random, and soaked her clothes, then sat on another passenger.
"I, you know, kind of pushed at him and asked him to please stop and 'What are you doing?'" Connee Bush said.
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Bush, who's from Maine, said she had no idea who Cherilus was until Monday.
After the plane landed, Cherilus was irate and uncooperative when asked to leave the plane, according to police. Cherilus was charged with disorderly conduct and disturbing a flight crew.
Court documents obtained Monday said that Cherilus "appeared intoxicated prior to the flight." He apparently was in a bad mood as a result of his seating arrangement, and became disruptive, irritable, delirious and aggressive. About 40 minutes into the flight, he allegedly walked over to an elderly woman and urinated.
The "egregious behavior" shocked everyone on the flight, the court documents said, putting them in fear of their safety and forcing the pilot to divert the flight back to Boston.
"Delta has zero tolerance for unlawful behavior and will cooperate with law enforcement to that end," a Delta Air Lines spokesperson told NBC10 Boston in a statement Monday.
Bush, who described the flight as "a very weird experience, and it's not one I would like to repeat," said that she headed straight for the bathroom to change into a fresh pair of clothes she had with her.
The former Boston College standout football player spent eight years in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after being drafted by the Detroit Lions in the first round of the 2008 draft.
Cherilus pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Monday in East Boston District Court and is scheduled to return to court in October. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.
He opted not to take questions after the hearing, but he released a statement on social media, in which he said he took "sleeping medication that I don't normally use, which resulted in behavior that is not representative of my character," and apologized to the passengers and crew of the flight.
Read his full statement here:
"I'd like to address the media reports about me that surfaced today regarding a situation that occurred onboard a flight to Ireland this past weekend. The flight was unexpectedly delayed for approximately four hours, and it did not take off until after 12:30AM. In preparation for the unexpected overnight flight, I took a sleeping medication that I don't normally use, which resulted in behavior that is not representative of my character, and I would like to apologize to the passengers and flight crew."
