A former NFL lineman urinated on an elderly woman — “emptying his entire bladder for approximately 20 seconds” — during a Boston-to-Ireland flight, forcing the plane to turn around, officials said Monday.
Former Detroit Lions offensive tackle Gosder Cherilus, 40, of Wakefield, Massachusetts, appeared Monday in East Boston District Court, where he pleaded not guilty to disorderly conduct, disturbing a flight crew and resisting arrest.
Delta Flight 154 had left Boston Logan International Airport at 12:12 a.m. ET Sunday, more than 3½ hours late, before it doubled back and landed back in Boston at 2:33 a.m., according to airline data published on FlightAware.
Court documents alleged Cherilus was allegedly and unhappy with his assignment in seat 3D.
As the plane was 36,000 feet above Halifax, Nova Scotia, Cherilus approached a 78-year-old Maine woman in seat 4C and “fully exposed his genitals and began urinating on an elderly female, emptying his entire bladder for approximately 20 seconds,” according to the court documents.
Because of the “egregious behavior” by Cherilus, described as 6-foot-6 and 280 pounds, the “entire flight experienced extreme shock, alarm and were in fear for their safety,” court papers say.
Witnesses tried to intervene “by grabbing his hands from his genitals and demanding that he return to his seat,” the documents say.
Cherilus confronted a 68-year-old Utah man in seat 3D and “began arguing over the seat” and “struck him with his right hand,” court papers allege. The action ended only when Cherilus returned to his seat, 3D, “where he passed out,” according to documents.
Delta had called for help with “an unruly passenger who urinated on another passenger on board,” Massachusetts State Police said in a statement.
When Flight 154 pulled into Terminal E, state police and Customers and Border Patrol agents boarded and confronted Cherilus, state police said.
“Troopers verbally commanded Cherilus to leave the plane, but he became irate and uncooperative,” they said. “Eventually, Troopers escorted Cherilus to the jet bridge and placed him under arrest for Disorderly Conduct and Disturbing a Flight Crew.”
Delta confirmed that Flight 154 had to return to Logan “due to an unruly customer” who was “met by law enforcement.”
“Delta has zero tolerance unlawful behavior and will cooperate with law enforcement to that end,” the airline said. “We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel.”
Cherilus did not answer reporters’ questions outside court Monday. On social media, he appeared to blame his erratic behavior on a bad reaction to a sleep medication.
“The flight was unexpectedly delayed for approximately four hours,” he wrote. “In preparation for the expected 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.”
Cherilus played nine NFL seasons: five with the Detroit Lions, years with the Indianapolis Colts and two with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played in 132 games, starting 116 of them.
At Boston College, Cherilus was a second-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference pick in 2007 as the blind-side protector of quarterback and Matt Ryan, the conference player of the year, who went on to a 15-season N FL career.
Ryan was the No. 3 overall pick of the 2008 draft, and Cherilus went at No. 17.
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