Air Marshal assaulted by passenger on international flight

A 47-year-old Alabama man, who was arrested and charged on Saturday with interfering with a flight crew aboard a Continental Airlines flight, assault, and assaulting a federal air marshal, appeared in federal court Tuesday, according to a report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police.

The suspect, Robert Wade Prince of Alabama, was taken into federal custody on Saturday, February 13, 2010, upon arriving at Bush International Airport Houston aboard a Continental flight inbound to Houston from Amsterdam.

The criminal complaint filed yesterday alleges Prince had became boisterous and was yelling loudly despite repeated admonitions by the flight crew to cease. Prince is also alleged to have grabbed a female flight attendant by the arm.

After a female passenger seated next to Prince complained about Prince inappropriately touching her and his yelling, a male flight attendant asked a federal air marshal to exchange seats with the female passenger. Prince allegedly attempted to block the air marshal from taking the seat. After the air marshal identified himself as a federal officer, Prince allegedly struck the air marshal about the torso twice.

Prince was restrained and as a result of his unwillingness to cooperate had to be forcibly removed to the crew rest area of the plane. For the remainder of the flight, the complaint alleges Prince was belligerent and verbally abusive to the air marshal.

Prince, who has remained in custody since his Saturday arrest, appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Mary Milloy yesterday. Interfering with flight crew members and attendants carries a punishment range of up to 20 years upon conviction while assaulting an officer carries a maximum punishment of eight years' imprisonment.

Both offenses are also punishable by fines of up to $250,000 each. The third charge -- assault -- carries a maximum punishment of six months' incarceration and a $5,000 fine.

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Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a columnist for The Examiner (examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he's a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer and columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.com. Kouri appears regularly as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Fox News Channel, Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, etc.

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