Alexander Michael Herrera, the Alaska Airlines passenger accused of trying to open an emergency exit during a flight from Anchorage en route to Portland last week, told investigators that he had not been taken his medicine, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, the Associated Press reported.
Herrera's statement was included in a criminal complaint released on Tuesday, just before he made his first court appearance on a charge of "attempted destruction of an aircraft." This charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Herrera did not enter a plea, and his arraignment was scheduled for June 26.
Herrera told police he remembered boarding the flight, but did not recall anything that happened in the air.
Passengers, however remember a different story.
On Alaska Airlines Flight 132, recollections from passengers, crew and police said that Herrera was acting strangely, and saying bizarre things including telling the woman sitting next to him that he was a psychic.
He also reportedly asked her, "What if I came to your home and pounded your kids?"
Herrera then turned his attention to the emergency exit, and, according to witnesses, and began to try and open the door using all of weight. (It is not possible to open an emergency door while the plane is flying).
Robin Struempler, the woman sitting next to him, began punching him to get him to release the door, and other passengers, including Henry Pignataro, helped wrestle him to the ground, until flight crew members buckled him to his seat and tied his hands together with plastic flex-cuffs, news reports said.
Judge Janice Stewart ordered Herrera to remain in jail for now because he is considered a danger to the community.
Ruben Iniguez, Herrera's public defender, asked for a detention hearing next week. The judge honored it, but has yet to set up a specific date. Herrera is being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center.
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