Man exposed himself to young traveler before boarding plane at Atlanta airport, cops say
A passenger was yanked off his flight and arrested after police say he exposed himself to a young traveler inside Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The man was charged with public indecency in connection with the Sept. 28 incident, per an arrest report obtained by McClatchy News.
Atlanta officers responded at about 1:20 a.m. to a report of someone masturbating in a gate area at Concourse D, police said. A fellow traveler who filmed the incident told officers the man in question was sitting at gate D1, although she didn’t realize what had happened until later.
She noticed the man was “shifty” and “suspiciously looking around,” according to police, so she started recording him.
The video showed the man touching himself under his shorts, police said, then exposing himself while sitting across from a young female traveler. Police didn’t disclose the traveler’s age, but a witness told officers she looked “very young” and was “possibly a minor.”
Moments later, the man boarded a Frontier Airlines flight bound for Fort Lauderdale, Florida, police said.
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The plane took off around 12:15 a.m. and had all but arrived to its destination by the time Atlanta officers arrived at the gate area, per the report.
After viewing airport surveillance video and speaking with Frontier gate agents, police confirmed the man’s identity and got information on his return flight.
Officers were waiting for him when his flight arrived back in Atlanta at 7:30 a.m. the next day, according to the report. He was arrested without incident.
In 2017, a man with the same name was accused of following two women around a Massachusetts fitness center and fondling himself, Boston 25 News reported.
He has “had some previous dealings with law enforcement for similar acts,” Atlanta police Maj. Kelley Collier told WAGA. “We’re hopeful that this time things are put in place to change his behavior.”
This story was originally published October 11, 2023 at 4:05 PM with the headline "Man exposed himself to young traveler before boarding plane at Atlanta airport, cops say."