A Florida man was removed from a Delta Air Lines flight in Anchorage on Monday night just before it left the ground after appearing drunk and groping a passenger next to him in first class, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Alaska.
David Bryan Frantz, 53, was arrested Thursday in Anchorage on federal charges of assault and interfering with a flight crew, according to an arrest warrant signed by the FBI special agent who investigated the incident.
The woman Frantz is accused of groping flew to Minneapolis, where she spoke with police Tuesday morning, according to the complaint.
Flight attendants said Frantz appeared “a little off” and possibly intoxicated during the boarding process at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, the complaint said. Delta agents at the ticket counter had also noticed signs of intoxication and advised Frantz not to consume any more alcohol or he would not be allowed to fly, it said.
Frantz boarded the flight and asked for a drink during a preflight service, the complaint said. A flight attendant consulted with another crew member and the two of them advised Frantz that he wouldn’t be served any more alcoholic beverages.
Frantz could be heard saying, “I’m in first class and you’re going to cut me off?” the special agent wrote. He repeated the statement when asked what he had said. A flight attendant notified a supervisor of the situation, and the plane’s captain ordered him escorted off the flight due to his escalating “verbally aggressive behavior,” the agent wrote.
A woman who said she didn’t know Frantz was sitting next to him during the incident and told airport police after landing in Minneapolis that he groped her after making obscene comments, according to the complaint.
Frantz was rebooked on a flight Tuesday afternoon but intercepted at the Anchorage airport before he could board that plane, according to the complaint. He told investigators he didn’t remember much about the flight the night before and denied groping the woman, it said.
Frantz’s first appearance in federal court was scheduled for Friday morning.