A St. Croix Man Is Facing 20 Years In Jail For Brawl On American Airlines Flight

ST. CROIX — St. Croix resident Jason Felix is facing a 20-year prison sentence for his actions on an American Airlines flight, which an F.B.I. affidavit said led to a brawl with Mr. Felix and his seatmate.

The incident occurred on an AA flight from St. Croix to Miami on Wednesday, May 23. According to the affidavit, a flight attendant who was at the back of the plane heard Mr. Felix rummaging in the bathroom, doing things like opening and closing cabinets. The flight attendant opened the door to examine what was going on, but Mr. Felix slammed the door in her face and locked it, according to the F.B.I. affidavit recounting the incident.

Mr. Felix then re-emerged wearing a T-shirt with the writing “Unity”, and cursed at the flight attendant while heading back to his seat, 17 B.

Each time Mr. Felix would leave his seat, the passenger with the aisle seat next to Mr. Felix had to get up to make room. The seatmate told the F.B.I. that he heard Mr. Felix hurling slurs at an attendant who Mr. Felix had repeatedly ordered beers from.

Mr. Felix’s seatmate was a Virgin Islands police officer, who told the F.B.I. that he knew of Mr. Felix’s reputation, which was apparently not good.

While the flight continued on its route to Miami, Mr. Felix attempted to order another beer, but was refused by the flight attendant. This time, Mr. Felix did not wait for his seatmate to make room for him — he climbed over the man’s lap, according to the F.B.I., and chased the flight attendant down the aisle, cursing at him while demanding to be served.

“You need to please sit down. You’re not drinking any more beers,” said the flight attendant, as seen in a video recorded by a passenger. “We’ll be there in an hour!”

Mr. Felix, however, would not calm down, instead he kept waving his arms in the attendant’s face. Meanwhile, at the back of Mr. Felix, his seatmate, the V.I.P.D. officer, was standing and frowning.

Mr. Felix had asked the attendant whether he was his bartender. “Yes, I’m your bartender,” the attendant responded, as he began to walk away.

The attendant had barely walked away when he turned around and saw Mr. Felix and his seatmate — the V.I.P.D. officer — entangled in a brawl, according to the F.B.I.’s affidavit. “They appeared to be hitting each other.”

The officer later told authorities that Mr. Felix spit blood at him and tore off his shirt. In the video above, recorded by Bill Bolduc, the two men can be seen entangled while two other passengers attempt to pull them apart.

Passengers were eventually able to push Mr. Felix back into his seat while attempting to placate him, but Mr. Felix was still enraged. “I’m going to kill you. I know you are a cop,” Mr. Felix screamed at the officer from the aisle seat, according to the affidavit.

The F.B.I. affidavit said Mr. Felix was so angered that the flight attendant asked the officer to move to another seat so the men could not see each other. Even so, Mr. Felix kept hurling insults, videos show.

When the plane landed in Miami, at least four officers boarded it. Mr. Felix seemed to argue with the officers momentarily, but soon after he allowed them to escort him off the plane.

Mr. Felix was arrested and ordered to be held until a detention hearing that was scheduled for May 29. He faced a charge of interfering with flight crew that carries up to a 20-year sentence.