megadoo1

Ex-PSU scientist subdued on flight

Man touched others with his blood, officials say


Wednesday, September 24, 2003

BY JIM SMITH
Of The Philadelphia Daily News


PHILADELPHIA - A former PSU Harrisburg environmental microbiologist is accused of horrifying fellow passengers on a flight from Philadelphia to England by smearing several of them with his own blood.

Picking at his skin and bleeding from self-inflicted scratches to his face and hands, John P. Hegarty touched several passengers with his blood, according to federal air marshal Roy Janssen.


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Earlier, he'd been "speaking loudly about a variety of topics, including loud comments about seeing his girlfriend in England."

"Hegarty also paced about the cabin and talked to passengers in a close and personal manner by placing himself close to the face of several passengers.

"The flight crew and passengers expressed fear of contamination from his blood and concern of his aggressive behavior," the air marshal noted.

Hegarty also put his hand on a 15-year-old girl's thigh while showing her "a coin trick," and argued with the girl's mother when she told him to stop.

The air marshal said Hegarty had "placed several coins" on the girl's thigh, and then had "placed his hands in the lap above the right knee of the girl."

"Hegarty argued with the mother and made statements about the attractiveness of the girl and the mother.

"Hegarty threatened the mother and asked her to step outside as if to fight her," Janssen said.

When he entered a lavatory, flight attendants blocked the door with two service carts to keep him inside, after which Janssen and another air marshal arrested him.

After being strapped in a seat by the air marshals, Hegarty kicked the other air marshal, Robert Gevers, in the upper thigh, and tried to bite Janssen's right hand, Janssen reported.

A physician gave Hegarty some medicine, Benadryl, to calm him down, but while restrained, "Hegarty thrashed about in his seat, and unfastened the seat belt and broke the window shade with a kick from his feet.

"Hegarty was foaming from the mouth, spitting on the floor, cursing" at the air marshals and other passengers, Janssen alleged in a sworn statement filed in federal court in Philadelphia.

USAir Flight 196 left Philadelphia on Friday, and Hegarty was jailed after the plane landed in Manchester on Saturday, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily McKillip, the case prosecutor.

"He smelled strongly of alcohol" and was carrying an empty plastic sports bottle when arrested, the prosecutor said.

Air marshals returned Hegarty to Philadelphia and a psychological exam was ordered. He is to have a bail hearing tomorrow before U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles B. Smith.

Hegarty is charged with interfering with flight attendants, assaulting a minor and assaulting a federal officer.

Dr. Katherine H. Baker, a professor of environmental engineering who runs the environmental microbiology research lab at PSU's Harrisburg campus, told a reporter yesterday that Hegarty "did graduate work in my lab" but lost his job there about four months ago.

She didn't know if he's now employed.

Hegarty, a native of Harrisburg, had worked at the Penn State lab for more than two years, left and got his doctorate at a British university, then returned to the lab and worked for several more months before funding for his position expired.

"He's very bright," said Baker.

"It does not sound like anything I would have expected," she added, referring to his alleged criminal conduct. "It seems very out of character."


http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriot...6026102990.xml

tcook052

Well, hopefully at the very least they take away all of his FF points.

Is it just me of are there more weirdo's boarding planes these days? The Swedish guy with King Cobra's in his pants, now this guy! Makes me wanna stay at home.

BTW, since when did air marshall's start being quoted in newspapers. This article mentions the marshall's name, but didn't say if he has the actual marshall aboard the plane or not.

Also, megadoo1, if you read the FT terms of service, you'll note that it's not kosher to reprint the whole article due to copyright concerns. Just post the link and a brief summary of the story and let readers link to the full article.

Spiff

Geez, what is with all the shock?

Every day, a very small part of the population goes nuts and acts in ways just like this.

Occasionally, it happens on an airplane.

Big Whoop.

GetReal

More sad than anything else. Hope the guy gets the professional help he needs. Obviously suffering from an illness.

Xyzzy

Alcohol??? I'm shocked!

Dovster

"What happens to idiots like this typically?"

Joe Paterno is impressed by their aggressiveness and puts them on the PSU defense.

tcook052

newsflash--been a while since Joe at Penn State.


[This message has been edited by tcook052 (edited 09-24-2003).]

Dovster

Thanks. It takes quite a while for football news to reach Israel. :-(

Just don't tell me that Knute Rockne isn't at Notre Dame anymore!



[This message has been edited by Dovster (edited 09-24-2003).]

CPRich

Huh? JoPa is still football coach at Penn State.

His last statement was that '06 may be his last year. http://espn.go.com/ncf/news/2003/0201/1502508.html

tcook052

My apologies. Was thinking of Lou Holtz when posted earlier comment. But that was a different university. I guess I'm guilty of offside, which is what in U.S. college football, a 10 yard penalty?

Dovster

That's okay. All is right with the world as long as Roger Staubach and Joe Bellino are still playing for Navy.

FFMilesJunkie

It's nice that the Air Marshall finally arrested the man, but where were the air marshalls while the guy was peeling his skin, close talking w/ several passengers, hitting on a 15 y.o., and threatning her mother. Maybe they didn't want their meal service interupted up in Business Class.

CATSA Screener

Probably trying to determine if he was legitimately nuts or acting that way to get them to blow cover and expose themselves to his possible accomplices.

NickP 1K

My inflight nut pax count is 10.... I should write a book

Seriously, get used to these freaks, they're not going anywhere. I'm more worried about these guys than ANY attempted terrorist incident on any flights I may be on.

Gummer8

Where were the other pax when this guy was flaming about? I thought that after 9/11 we weren't going to permit threats to our safety like this...was that all a bunch of empty bravado?