BOSTON — A former NFL player accused of punching one man while intoxicated and urinating on another during a flight from Boston to Dublin has been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, Massachusetts State Police said Monday.
Gosder Cherilus, a first round pick of the Detroit Lions who also played for the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was arrested Sunday morning after the Delta Air Lines plane returned to Logan International Airport.
Officers ordered the 40-year-old man from Wakefield, near Boston, to leave the plane, but he became “angry and uncooperative,” police said. He was subsequently arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and disrupting the flight crew.
According to the police report, he appeared intoxicated when he boarded the plane, argued with the crew about his seat, and urinated on an elderly passenger an hour into the flight. He then punched another passenger and took that passenger’s seat before passing out, the report said.
According to the Boston Globe, Cherilus was arraigned in East Boston District Court on Monday.
“It is quite outrageous what you have done, as alleged,” Judge Debra A. DelVecchio told Cherilus.
A phone number could not be found for Cherilus. The Globe reports that he and his attorney, Brian Sullivan, did not speak to reporters as they left the courthouse.
In a statement Monday, Delta confirmed that there was an “unruly customer” on the flight and that other passengers were flown later to Dublin. The airline did not say how long the flight was delayed.
“Delta does not tolerate any unlawful behavior and will cooperate with law enforcement to achieve that goal,” the company said in a statement. “We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel.”