Retired Minneapolis police chief helps subdue United Airlines passenger after alleged alcohol-cutoff outburst

Retired Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara found himself back in crisis mode Thursday, not on the streets of Mill City, but 35,000 feet in the air, when what should have been a routine United Airlines flight suddenly turned chaotic.O’Hara told Fox News Digital he watched flight attendants spend nearly 45 minutes trying to de-escalate an increasingly belligerent passenger, prompting him and two off-duty Bergen County, New Jersey, sheriff’s deputies to intervene.The retired police chief, who was traveling with his wife aboard United Flight 1364 from Newark to Fort Lauderdale, said the passenger repeatedly berated flight attendants, tried to get out of his seat and behaved erratically as crew members worked to keep the situation under control.“About like for the last 45 minutes of the flight … all the flight attendants came over, and they were incredible,” O’Hara told Fox News Digital.“Incredibly professional, just trying to talk to this guy to de-escalate things.”According to O’Hara, the passenger became increasingly agitated after flight attendants refused to serve him more alcohol, a detail O’Hara said he later learned from the Broward Sheriff’s Office after the arrest.

The man reportedly continued shouting profanities and making threatening remarks before the encounter turned physical.“It was infuriating to hear a man speak to these women who were just incredibly professional and trying to keep everybody safe that way for so long,” O’Hara said.“And, finally, he just kind of got up and lunged towards them.”That’s when two passengers seated near the back of the aircraft grabbed the man from behind as O’Hara rushed forward from his seat.The three men worked together to restrain the passenger using plastic flex cuffs before securing him back in his seat, so the flight attendants could take their seats and the plane could land safely.O’Hara later learned the two passengers were Bergen County Sheriff’s deputies from New J...