Massachusetts man pleads guilty to attacking a flight attendant with a broken spoon
Francisco Severo Torres, of Leominster, pleaded guilty to one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon in the March 2023 disturbance on United Airlines Flight 2609 from Los Angeles to Boston.
According to prosecutor and witness accounts, Torres went on a midair rant and tried to stab a crew member with a modified metal spoon.
The plane was about 45 minutes from Boston when the crew received an alarm that a side door on the aircraft was disarmed, according to court documents. One flight attendant noticed the door's locking handle had been moved. Another saw Torres near the door and believed he had moved the handle. Cabin pressure during flight prevents airplane doors from opening.
Torres started loudly rambling that his father was Dracula, that he wanted to be shot so he could be reincarnated and that he would kill everyone on board, another passenger said. He punched a male flight attendant, who felt the metal spoon in Torres' hand hit him on his shirt collar and tie three times, according to court documents. No one was injured.
Torres was eventually subdued and restrained by other passengers. He was arrested when the flight landed at Boston Logan International Airport, authorities said.
Torres could be sentenced up to life in prison.
A lawyer for Torres could not be reached for comment.
Torres has spent time in mental health facilities, according to court records. The police chief in his hometown said officers have dealt with him several times since 2014, mostly over family issues and mental health episodes.
During one court appearance after his arrest, a federal judge ruled that Torres was not competent to stand trial and that he needed additional treatment. Magistrate Judge Judith Dein based her decision on a mental health evaluation of Torres and her own observations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Etan Patz killer has conviction overturned in shock ruling
A New Yorker has had his conviction overturned for the 1979 murder of a six year-old boy abducted and killed the first time his parents let him walk home alone from a school bus stop. Pedro Hernandez should be retried for the killing of Etan Patz or set free, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday. Hernandez was convicted in 2017 of killing Patz in 1979, after confessing he'd lured the youngster to a basement in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood. On Monday, the appeals court ruled that instructions given to jurors as they prepared to deliberate that trial were improper and prejudicial, the New York Times warned.
The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Appeals court orders new trial for man convicted in 1979 Etan Patz case
The man convicted of killing 6-year-old Etan Patz in 1979 was awarded a new trial Monday as a federal appeals court overturned the guilty verdict in one of the nation's most notorious missing child cases. Pedro Hernandez has been serving 25 years to life in prison since his 2017 conviction. He had been arrested in 2012 after a decadeslong, haunting search for answers in Etan's disappearance on the first day he was allowed to walk alone to his school bus stop. The appeals court overturned the conviction because of an issue involving how the trial judge handled a jury note during Hernandez 2017 trial — his second. His first trial ended in a jury deadlock in 2015. The ruling says that the judges concluded that the state trial court's instruction was not only 'clearly wrong' but 'manifestly prejudicial' The court ordered his release unless the state gives him a new trial within a reasonable period to be set by the lower court judge. Emily Tuttle, a spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney, said 'We are reviewing the decision.' Harvey Fishbein, an attorney for Hernandez, declined to comment when reached Monday by phone. Hernandez was a teenager working at a convenience shop in Etan's Manhattan neighborhood when the boy vanished. Hernandez, who's from Maple Shade, New Jersey, later confessed to choking Etan. But his lawyers said he was mentally ill and his confession was false. Etan was among the first missing children pictured on milk cartons. His case contributed to an era of fear among American families, making anxious parents more protective of kids who many once allowed to roam and play unsupervised in their neighborhoods. 'Through this painful and utterly horrific real-life story, we came to realize how easily our children could disappear,' said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., a Democrat who made a 2009 campaign promise to revisit the case if elected. The Patzes' advocacy helped to establish a national missing-children hotline and to make it easier for law enforcement agencies to share information about such cases. The May 25 anniversary of Etan's disappearance became National Missing Children's Day.
Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Music heiress, 21, is arrested after arranging huge brawl in a Tennessee Walmart
A music heiress was arrested after she attacked another woman with a sock full of rocks at a Walmart before allegedly stealing the victim's Louis Vuitton purse. Diamond Tankard, the grandchild of Ben Tankard, the 'Godfather of Gospel Jazz,' and star of Bravo's 'Thicker Than Water' reality show, was taken into custody on Friday following the alleged assault in Antioch, near Nashville, Tennessee. The violent encounter was caught on camera and even posted to social media by Tankard, 21. It is unclear what sparked the confrontation. Tankard, dressed in a pink shirt and camo pants, was seen pummeling a woman and pulling her hair near the checkout counter at the store. While bystanders tried to step in to stop the mayhem, Tankard pulled out a white and red striped tube sock before striking the other woman in the face with it. At one point, Tankard's wig fell off her head, but she continued to punch the unidentified woman in the chaotic scenes. The clip showed the reality star wearing an ankle monitor as blood dripped from the unnamed victim's face. Following the dramatic incident, the victim told officers with the Metro Nashville Police Department Tankard stole her $900 designer handbag and $1,500 iPhone 14, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by WVLT. While bystanders tried to step in to stop the mayhem, Tankard was seen appearing to pull out a white and red striped tube sock (pictured) before striking the other woman in the face with it The woman said Tankard approached her from behind and grabbed her hair while she was using the self-checkout lane. The victim was left with a laceration above her left eye, on her forehead, the report said. Video surveillance from the store showed Tankard was seen using a sock full of rocks and swinging it several times. Tankard was arrested and charged with theft of property and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She was released on a $25,000 bond, records showed. Just last year, Tankard was charged with attempted first-degree murder after she was accused of intentionally striking a woman with her vehicle on November 29. That night, the female victim, 30, and her sister left a bar around 12.30am and entered their vehicle. Tankard then approached the driver's side window and asked the victim's sister 'if she knew a male,' police said. 'After the victim's sister told Tankard, no, she did not know him, they got into a subsequent verbal argument which turned physical,' it went on, adding that when the victim tried to break up the fight, Tankard entered her Range Rover. She then drove the car to the end of the street before turning around and 'accelerating at a high rate of speed before striking the victim who sustained critical injuries,' police said. During that incident, she was also wearing an ankle monitor for a domestic assault-related arrest. It is unclear if the ankle monitor in the recent video was the same device. Tankard was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving injury and failing to render aid. She was released on a $1,002,000 bond. According to her social media accounts, Tankard lives in Nashville and has a daughter. She is the daughter of Brooklyn Tankard, one of Ben's daughters. Tankard was previously described as 'the entertainer of the family,' while her mother was said to love being 'the center of attention, according to Bravo. She shot to fame as a child star on her family's Bravo reality series which aired from 2013 to 2019. The series showed her grandfather's life and career as a music producer and pastor at Destiny Center Church in Murfreesboro. Her grandfather, Ben, is also a former professional basketball player who serves as a motivational speaker for the NBA's Development League.
