In a wild incident, a woman ran on an airport runway before she was pushed to the ground and taken into police custody on Monday.
The incident, captured on video, happened at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Atlanta Police said officers with the Atlanta Police Airport Section responded to a "disorderly customer" at gate E1.
The woman, identified as Lezlie Hernandez Zapata, was informed she would not be allowed to board the flight because of her poor behaviour. As the officers began to escort her back to the terminal, Zapata refused to get into a police vehicle and ran away.
"Officers quickly caught up to Ms Zapata, pushed her to the ground and took her into custody, without further incident. Ms Zapata was transported to the airport precinct where EMS [emergency medical service] was requested to evaluate her," the Atlanta Police Department said in a statement.
Even though the woman was pushed to the ground, as shown in the widely-shared video on social media, she had "no apparent injuries and was cleared to be transported to jail". Even as the woman was forced into the police vehicle, her poor behaviour continued, according to the video that has been played almost 500,000 times on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
This just happened at the Atlanta airport 😩 pic.twitter.com/MLsYIuFDSZ
— ATL Uncensored (@ATLUncensored) February 5, 2024
The Atlanta Police said Zapata was taken to the airport precinct where Emergency Medical Services (EMS) was requested to evaluate her. While being held by police at the precinct, the woman reportedly "spat on multiple officers, urinated on herself, and removed the majority of her clothing".
She was then covered in other clothing items before being transported to Clayton County Jail on charges of disorderly conduct and obstruction of law enforcement officers.
This is not the first time in recent days that a shambolic passenger has been filmed creating a nuisance at an airport or onboard a flight.
A woman was arrested last year after she ran out onto the runway at Canberra Airport in Australia, in a bid to flag down a plane from leaving without her. After she obviously had no luck stopping the plane, she turned around and headed back towards the terminal building.
Another female passenger was recently slapped with federal charges after she was caught on video pulling down her pants and underwear, cursing at the crew and allegedly threatening to kill fellow flyers.
Dulce Huertas, a 60-year-old woman from Philadelphia, had a meltdown mid-air after she had two cocktails during the November 20, 2023, Frontier Airline flight travelling from Orlando to Philadelphia.
