Intoxicated Passenger Arrested After Flight Diverted To OKC

A passenger was arrested on multiple complaints, including public drunkenness and disorderly conduct, after a plane from Las Vegas to Atlanta was diverted to Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City, over the weekend.

According to Oklahoma City police, at about 4:22 a.m. on Saturday, May 23, officers learned that a Delta flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta had been diverted to Will Rogers Airport. Officials with the airline told police that there was an unruly male passenger locked in the lavatory.

Oklahoma City officers responded to the airport and boarded the plane. However, the suspect, 39-year-old Reginald Aaron Ballard of Holland, North Carolina, refused to come out of the restroom.

Officers eventually had to take Ballard out of the lavatory by minor use of force. He was then handcuffed and removed from the plane. Police said Ballard had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath and person. He was unsteady on his feet and had bloodshot, watery eyes.

After being taken to the police office, Ballard reportedly cussed at the officers and struck the wall with his elbow, putting a hole in the sheet rock. Ballard also kicked a firefighter as he walked by.

Ballard was booked into the Oklahoma County Jail on complaints of public drunkenness, destruction of property, and disorderly conduct.