A flight from Detroit to San Diego this month became a total drag, literally, as a professor from the University of Michigan caused a bizarre disturbance and had to be forcefully hauled off the aircraft by police.
Passengers were astonished at the behavior of Rhima Coleman of Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the Delta flight that was departing from Detroit Metro Airport on Dec. 19.
See raw video courtesy RenesPoints.com:
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Reports say the instructor allegedly walked past a gate agent without showing her boarding pass and refused to let Delta screeners check her bag.
After Coleman seated herself, airport police boarded the plane and asked her to leave. That’s when she began using foul language and refused to disembark.
“We’ve learned she had blown past the gate agent, boarding unlawfully, refusing to properly check her bags and then refused to get up and leave the aircraft. All the while she was cursing at responding officers who begged her to walk out on her own,” reported WXYZ-TV, the ABC affiliate in Detroit.
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Numerous fliers recorded the incident on their cell phones, with one gasping, “Oh my God!” as Coleman intentionally made herself lifeless on the floor and was hauled away by her wrists.
Police say alcohol was not a factor.
MLive reported Coleman works as an assistant professor in the College of Engineering, earning $102,849 a year, according to the University of Michigan salary report.
In her college biography, Coleman’s areas of research are listed as tissue engineering and biomaterials, as well as regenerative medicine.
U-M spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen wrote in an email interview with Michigan Daily there has been no change in Coleman’s employment status at the university.
The professor’s arraignment is set for Jan. 18 in the 34th District Court on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.
WXYZ-TV tried contacting Coleman at her home in Ann Arbor.
“She wasn’t at her townhouse. So we headed to her office at U of M. We were told she was out of town at a conference,” the station reported.
“There’s no word on if she flew.”
Watch TV news coverage of the incident:
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