United Airlines flight UA728, bound from Newark to Miami on Wednesday, was forced to divert to Charleston International Airport, where police arrested a man for attacking other passengers in-flight—allegedly going so far as trying to bite another man’s ear off.
Forty-five-year-old John Yurkovich was taken into custody and charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine after police found a quantity of white crystalline substance in his pocket. An officer wrote in the police report that Yurkovich was carrying 1.5 grams of the substance, which field-tested positive for methamphetamine.
According to the incident report, when officers arrived on the scene, Yurkovich was already face-down on the floor, having been restrained with hands behind his back using zip ties and a belt.
Yurkovich’s unfortunate seatmate reported to the police that the man had gotten up to use the restroom during the flight, returning after an interval and seeming “rather agitated”, according to WCSC. He soon became restless and began bouncing around in his seat.
After requesting a glass of water from the flight attendant, Yurkovich got up to retrieve what appeared to be pills from his carry-on luggage, stowed in the overhead bin. When he sat back down, he began to “scream and thrash around”. At that point, his seatmate held up an arm to shield himself, which apparently irritated Yurkovich all the more. He then punched the victim with a closed fist, breaking his glasses in the process and attempted to bite his ear off. Luckily, the victim escaped with only a laceration.
Some witnesses sprang into action to try to restrain the assailant, who hurt a couple more passengers before finally being subdued, punching one in the head and possibly breaking another’s nose. One witness who identified himself as a physician told officers that he had administered a Benadryl injection in Yurkovich’s buttocks in order to finally sedate him.
By the time he appeared in court yesterday, Yurkovich was ready to dispute the meth charge by offering an alternative explanation. “It’s not what they say it is. That’s a special kind of…it’s a cat tranquilizer actually. It’s not what they’re saying it is,” Yurkovich said.
Unconvinced, the judge set him a surety bond of $50,000.
At last report, Yurkovich was still being held at the Al Cannon Detention Center and faces additional pending charges from the FBI.
