Sometimes those flying the friendly skies aren’t so friendly themselves, case and point being Manolin Villaverde.
Tuesday, Villaverde was on a flight from Houston to Ontario, Calif., when about an hour in, he went to the lavatory and came out smoking a cigarette.
The 37-year-old was asked by flight attendants to stop smoking and put out his cigarette because smoking was not allowed on the plane. He reportedly said that he did not care and continued to smoking. In response, a flight attendant took the cigarette and put it out in the lavatory. Undeterred, Villaverde lit up another cigarette.
A second flight attendant took that cigarette away, put it out, and told him to sit down.
After pushing the flight attendants and claiming that the captain wanted to speak with him, Villaverde finally had to be subdued with plastic handcuffs, the second flight attendant who said he “felt intimidated to the point that he felt it necessary to subdue Villaverde.”
On January 25, Villaverde was charged with interfering with flight crew members. According to The Smoking Gun, this was not his first run-in with the law, as he’s been arrested for weapons possession, larceny, assault, and aggravated battery.
Villaverde, who is from Miami, caused the plane to be diverted to San Antonio International Airport.
