Aug. 20 (UPI) — Gosder Cherilus, a former lineman for nine seasons in the NFL, is facing several federal charges after he is accused of urinating on an elderly woman for approximately 20 seconds during a flight from Boston to Ireland, and hitting a male passenger from Utah.
The 40-year-old resident of Wakefield, Mass., appeared Monday in East Boston District Court, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing a flight crew and resisting arrest.
Delta Flight 154 left Logan International Airport at 12:12 a.m. EDT Sunday, which was more than 3 1/2 hours late. It returned to Boston at 2:33 a.m., according to airline data published on FlightAware.
“Delta flight 154 from Boston to Dublin on August 17 returned to Boston Logan due to an unruly customer and was met by law enforcement,” a Delta spokesperson told WFTX. “Delta has zero tolerance for unlawful behavior and will cooperate with law enforcement to that end. We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel.”
The plane was 36,000 feet above Halifax, Nova Scotia, when Cherilus approached a 78-year-old Maine woman in seat 4C when he “fully exposed his genitals and began urinating on an elderly female, emptying his entire bladder for approximately 20 seconds,” according to the court documents.
The “entire flight experienced extreme shock, alarm and were in fear for their safety,” because of this “egregious behavior” by the 6-foot-6, 280-pound suspect, according to the arrest report.
Witnesses tried to intervene “by grabbing his hands from his genitals and demanding that he return to his seat,” the documents said.
Then, Cherilus confronted a 68-year-old Utah man in seat 3D and he “began arguing over the seat” and “struck him with his right hand,” court papers said. Cherilus returned to his seat 3D “where he passed out,” according to the arrest report.
Flight 154 pulled into Terminal E. Then Massachusetts State Police and Customs and Border Patrol agents boarded and confronted Cherilus.
“Troopers verbally commanded Cherilus to leave the plane, but he became irate and uncooperative,” according to MSP. “Eventually, troopers escorted Cherilus to the jet bridge and placed him under arrest for Disorderly Conduct and Disturbing a Flight Crew.”
Cherilus was the 17th overall pick in the 2008 NFL draft. He played 132 games over nine years seasons with the Lions from 2008-2012, Indianapolis Colts from 2013-2014 and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2005-2016 after playing at Boston College.
“After much thought, prayer and discussion with loved ones, I have decided to retire from the NFL,” Cherilus wrote on Twitter in March 2017.
