Authorities cite ‘growling’ Las Vegas man for outbursts on flight
An airline passenger who was videotaped Monday growling like a dog and screaming at a flight attendant has been identified by authorities as Timothy Armstrong, 61, of Las Vegas.
Salt Lake City police said Armstrong was issued a criminal citation for public intoxication and disorderly conduct following his removal from an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City Monday afternoon.
Attempts to reach Armstrong by phone for comment Wednesday were not successful.
Video of the outburst was recorded and posted on Facebook by fellow passenger Dennis Busch of Salt Lake City. The video shows a fellow passenger, identified by police as Armstrong, growling as he repeatedly placed his mask over his face and nose. Another video clip posted by Busch shows Armstrong screaming at an American flight attendant, saying, “You can’t hold us!”
Armstrong then yelled a string of expletives at the attendant. It appears on the video that Armstrong does not realize the plane is still in the air as he demands to be let off the aircraft.
The man also was videotaped yelling, “Joe Biden! Really?”
Busch wrote on his Facebook page that the episode started when the unruly passenger yelled at an Asian woman to sit down.
“After asking him to calm down, the man went into a complete meltdown of racist, sexist and belligerent comments,” Busch wrote.
Salt Lake City police said in a press release that Armstrong was taken to a nearby hospital upon being removed from the aircraft.
Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.
