A man was arrested after he allegedly boarded a plane using someone else’s ticket.
According to a federal complaint obtained by PEOPLE, a man named Wicliff Yves Fleurizard allegedly boarded a Delta flight from Salt Lake City, Utah to Austin, Texas on Sunday without a valid ticket. The documents state that Fleurizard, who lives in Austin, was behaving strangely when he got on the plane. He faces one felony count of stowaways on ships or aircraft, according to the lawsuit.
“After boarding was completed and just before the aircraft doors were secured, Fleurizard exited the front lavatory and walked to the rear of the aircraft and entered the rear lavatory,” the complaint states. “Fleurizard came out of the back lavatory and the flight attendant noticed that there were no seats on the plane so she approached Fleurizard to help.”
The complaint continues: “Fleurizard indicated to the flight attendant that his seat was 21F. The flight attendant confirmed that the passenger who was in seat 21F is the person who bought and received the ticket for that seat, and is not Fleurizard.”
Stock image of boarding pass.
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After realizing that Fleurizard was not registered for Delta flight 1683, the flight attendants searched the “Guest Service Tool,” which showed that Fleurizard was not ticketed for any Delta flight.
He was then removed from the plane and the police searched him.
After further investigation, authorities noticed that a minor girl who was traveling alone had problems with her boarding pass, which said she was already on the flight when she scanned it at the gate.
“Surveillance footage of the boarding area was reviewed and showed Fleurizard in the boarding area taking pictures of the phones and/or boarding passes of multiple passengers while they were not looking, including a minor female passenger,” the complaint states. “The footage also shows Fleurizard using his phone as a boarding pass when boarding the plane.”
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Stock image of a Delta flight.
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After being read his rights, the complaint says Fleurizard claimed he used a different ticket after he couldn’t make it to his previous flights after a ski trip and had to return to his family in Florida.
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He allegedly used a non-profit friendly pass to fly Southwest, but the airline repeatedly rebooked him because they didn’t have enough seats.
“Fleurizard admitted that he made a mistake and that he was just trying [to] home,” the documents claim.
In a statement to PEOPLE, a Delta spokesperson confirms the investigation: “Delta is cooperating with the police and relevant federal agencies regarding the investigation of an unticketed person who was escorted off DL1863 on March 17 in Salt Lake City prior to scheduled departure.”
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Source: HIS Education