A passenger on Alaska Airlines flight AS604 of 24 January 2024 from Seattle to Las Vegas (Boeing 737-900ER reg. N467AS) has been charged in federal court with assault with a dangerous weapon for allegedly attacking another traveller with pens wrapped in rubber bands.
The incident occurred in late January when Julio Alvarez Lopez reportedly assaulted a law enforcement officer who was sitting across the aisle with his wife and 7-year-old son, about half an hour before landing. The flight crew restrained Lopez, and he was subsequently arrested by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police.
Lopez claimed he believed the other passenger was a cartel member intending to kill him and expressed paranoia about being pursued by the mafia.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident. Lopez is scheduled to be arraigned on March 1.
