Airline Passenger Allegedly Kissed Woman, Spat On Her Chest During Flight

A Republic Airways passenger claimed she was sexually harassed on the plane by her co-passenger, while flying from Miami to Indianapolis recently.

While the incident took place April 26, passenger Shauna Smith opened up about her experience in an interview with Fox59 on Wednesday. She said 61-year-old Reginald Hatcher, who was sitting one seat ahead of her, on the opposite side of the aisle, moved to sit next to her after her seatmate swapped seats with him. Hatcher soon began talking incessantly, often making sexual remarks toward her, Smith claimed.

"He began making references to minors and sexual intercourse," Smith said. "The conversations went back and forth between his family and then back to sexual content then back to his family then back to sexual content again."

Smith claimed that Hatcher did not stop there as his advances soon turned physical. "He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek, and I kind of turned my head a little bit, and was just so taken back," she recalled. "He did it again. He said, 'I like that, I want to do it again.' And, did it again. At one point I was leaning up against the window and he was in my face. I could feel his breath on me. He spit on my chest."

She added that she felt trapped in her own seat, which was next to the window, as he had put all his belonging on the tray table in front of her. She also reportedly saw the suspect pour vodka from a bottle that he had purchased in another flight.

"He opened his own bottle of vodka and poured it in," Smith said. "This was his second drink that he had done that with."

Although a flight attendant later corroborated Smith’s account, saying she witnessed the suspect drinking out of his own bottle of vodka, authorities said no traces of alcohol was detected in Hatcher’s breath after he was made to take a breathalyzer test by the police.

The victim was finally able to get the attention of one of the cabin crew members, who helped her out of the ordeal. When the flight attendant asked her if she was traveling with Hatcher, “I shook my head no and I mouthed the words, 'Help me' to her,'" Smith said.

The airline praised their flight crew for how they handled the situation, in a statement to the news station. “When our flight attendant became aware of a passenger’s aggressive and unwelcome conduct in violation of our rules and directed toward another passenger, she acted to separate the passengers and our crew requested that the flight be met by law enforcement officers upon landing. In this situation, as in all others, our crew members are trained and empowered to act to protect the safety of their passengers and their fellow crew members,” Jon Austin, Republic Airlines corporate communications spokesman, said.

Hatcher was arrested by Indianapolis Airport Police and later booked into the county jail. He was charged with battery and disorderly conduct and was released on a bond, April 27. His next court hearing was in June.