A New Jersey man was charged by the FBI after getting into an altercation on a airline flight which led to him biting the ear off another man.
John Yurkovich, Jr. 45, of Middlesex County, was arrested after forcing an emergency landing of Flight 728 between Newark Liberty Airport and Miami.
The flight departed at 8:14 am from Liberty and during the flight when the airline reported that Yurkovich became unruly according to a complaint signed by the FBI on Thursday. Flight attendants said Yurkovich became “off-balanced” and “erratic before assaulting another passenger.
The FBI reported he punched the man several time and told the man, “Don’t f-cking talk to me. Don’t f-cking touch me.”
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Other passengers intervened and were also assaulted before Yurkovich was eventually zip-tied by the passengers who came to the aid of the staff. He was given a sedative of Benadryl by a doctor who was on the flight. Police responding to the incident found 2 grams of methamphetamine on his person.
One passenger required stitches after being bitten on the ear by Yurkovich during the altercation.