San Francisco

Drunken Passenger Accused of Biting Flight Attendant's Ear on Board Flight to SFO

A man, who once called the Bay Area home, is accused in federal court of biting a flight attendant’s ear in a drunken fit while traveling from Amsterdam to San Francisco.

Jonah Cayle Snow attacked two male flight attendants as they tried to stop him from smoking a cigarette and drinking alcohol aboard Wednesday’s KLM Flight No. 605 from Amsterdam International Airport to San Francisco International Airport, David Peacock, a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, wrote in an affidavit.

Snow is accused of “assaulting or intimidating a flight crew member or flight attendant” and preventing them from completing their duties. If convicted, the man, whose Facebook page indicates was a Santa Rosa resident and studied at Aragon High School, could face up to 20 years behind bars and a $250,000 fine, according to the affidavit.

Snow and his girlfriend, Nikki Zeebregts, were identified as being drunk on their flight from Dusseldorf to Amsterdam. So the crew on board the airplane that was to bring them to San Francisco was advised not to serve them any more alcohol.

The couple was contacted prior to their flight and were allowed on to the plane once they agreed to the crew’s condition. However, things went awry about midway through the 11-hour flight when Snow and Zeebregts got into an argument and became unruly, Peacock wrote.

The pair was separated and Zeebregts was accompanied to the back of the plane and offered a seat there. However, she only became more aggressive, forcing the flight crew to restrain her to protect themselves and other passengers from getting injured, according to the affidavit.

Soon after, the smell of cigarette smoke wafted to the aircraft crew, alerting them to Snow who was smoking and drinking in his seat. Since the duo hadn’t been served alcoholic beverages on the flight, Peacock surmised that they brought it on to the flight themselves.

“Snow was directed to extinguish the cigarette and instead became verbally aggressive and disruptive,” Peacock wrote. Two male attendants tried to subdue him, but he fought back by “violently flailing, scratching” them. Snow even went so far as to assault one of the attendants by biting his ear. His agitated flailing also resulted in injuries on the the attendant’s face and elsewhere on his body, the affidavit said.

The flight crew’s duties were interrupted during the rowdy encounter, Peacock wrote. One attendant was forced to take a seat next to Snow and attempt to keep him calm until the flight landed at SFO.

Upon disembarking, the wounded flight attended was taken to a San Francisco hospital and treated.

The East Bay Times reported that Zeebregts does not face charges stemming from her behavior on the flight. However, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Snow on Thursday with one count of “interference with flight crew members and attendants.”

He was in custody during his first federal court appearance, but has since posted a $25,000 bond. Snow is slated to be arraigned on Jan. 12.

Social media indicates that Zeebregts is a tattoo artist and photographer who lives the Netherlands, where Snow now lives.

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