An Alaska Airlines passenger plane was traveling from Seattle to Las Vegas last month after a bloody altercation broke out on board, with an alleged plot to attack and kill a passenger using a makeshift weapon.
Julio Alvarez Lopez was charged with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon after being arrested at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on January 24th. According to 8NewsNow, He cited federal court records.
Lopez was said to have been “fidgety” as she was putting on and taking off her gloves throughout the flight, and took a long trip to the bathroom during the plane’s initial descent.
When Lopez returned to his seat, he “began punching and punching” the man sitting across the aisle and tried to stab him in the eye, the newspaper said.
“During an argument, [the victim’s] “The wife was yelling at the defendant to stop hitting her husband,” FBI agents wrote in court documents viewed by news outlets. “[A witness] He unbuckled his seatbelt and yelled for the defendant to stop. ”
Lopez reportedly shielded the couple’s 7-year-old son from the crazed suspect’s rampage and punched his wife as she screamed.
Witnesses later told investigators that “a bunch of pens and tape” were on the floor and “there were blood stains everywhere.”
The male victim survived, but suffered serious injuries. According to the outlet.
After the altercation, Lopez headed toward the front of the plane, yelling, “I only talk to the FBI.”
Law enforcement officers on the flight ordered Lopez to sit down because flight attendants “worked to provide flexible cuffs, which kept him restrained for the remainder of the flight.”
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department arrested Mr. Lopez after the plane landed around 8:37 a.m., detained him at the Terminal 3 substation, and interrogated him there.
Lopez admitted to police that he planned the attack because he “felt the mafia was after me.”
Lopez claimed he had never seen the victim but “intended to kill him.” [him]”
He also said he was armed with a pen wrapped in a rubber band that he had made before the flight. According to FOX 5 Vegas.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Coppe ordered Lopez held the next day pending trial.
He was indicted on assault charges by a federal grand jury on Wednesday.
Mr. Lopez is scheduled to return to court on March 1.
