A 20-year-old woman accused of attacking and injuring a TSA agent at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport after her apple juice was taken away has been sentenced to four months in prison.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, the TSA in a statement said that a security screening process was underway on April 25, 2023, when Makiah Cherae Coleman attacked the agents.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in a statement on Wednesday said Coleman was handed the punishment after she pleaded guilty to assault on a federal officer inflicting bodily injury, FOX 10 Phoenix reported. Besides the prison sentence, Coleman was also ordered to serve 36 months of supervised release. The statement said she has additionally been banned from traveling by commercial aircraft during the three-year term of her court supervision.
RELATED STORIES
“TSA officers are federal employees who work for the Department of Homeland Security to protect the nation’s transportation systems,” the statement added. “Their primary role is to screen passengers, baggage, and cargo for terrorism threats. Coleman’s actions resulted in the temporary closure of a Sky Harbor Airport Security Checkpoint while law enforcement responded.”
READ ALSO: Spirit Airlines apologizes after footage shows worker pocketing passenger’s items
In the wake of the incident, court documents stated that Coleman got angry and attacked the TSA officials during the screening because they had taken away her apple juice.
“[Coleman] was ranting and raving about the apple juice and walks around the barrier and attempts to grab the bin containing her items being screened from the TSA agent,” the probable cause statement said.
Coleman is said to have hit an agent’s head and torn his shirt after she climbed the counter. Court documents also stated that efforts to hold her back during the assault proved futile. Officials said Coleman also hit a different agent and yanked her hair, adding that she allegedly bit another agent who attempted to intervene.
The incident is said to have disrupted the flow of work at the airport, and two of the injured officers had to be taken to the hospital for treatment, per FOX 10 Phoenix.
“Unfortunately, this situation not only resulted in three of our TSA officers being injured, but inconvenienced approximately 450 travelers who had to be redirected to a nearby checkpoint for security screening due to the actions of this traveler,” the TSA said in the statement at the time.
