SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Nov. 23, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A 41-year-old Syracuse, Utah man has been arrested after allegedly carrying and brandishing a straight-edged blade Monday on a flight from New York state to Salt Lake City.
Suspect Merrill Darrell Fackrell was charged Tuesday with carrying a weapon on an aircraft, and assault with a dangerous weapon in the Special Aircraft Jurisdiction of the United States.
According to court documents, Fackrell departed on JetBlue flight No. 871 from John F. Kennedy International Airport, headed toward Salt Lake City International Airport.
“Fackrell was seated in a window seat next to married passengers,” says a news release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, United States Attorney’s Office, District of Utah.
“During the flight, Fackrell placed his hand in front of the woman’s screen and told her to pause her movie. According to the complaint, the woman took off her headphones and realized Fackrell had his hand clutched with what appeared to her as a knife, inches from her skin at her throat/neck area.
“The woman’s husband went to the front of the aircraft to get assistance from the flight attendant. The woman lunged for the aisle to escape and Fackrell reached and tried to stop her by grabbing her shoulder. The object was secured and later identified as a Facon (sic) wood-handled straight edge razor with a one-to-two-inch blade.”
(A wood-handled shaving blade is made by a company called Falcon, suggesting “Facon” may be a typo.)
Charging documents
According to court documents, Fackrell was in a window seat, next to a woman (initials M.L) whose husband (initials R.L.) was seated on her other side.
“During the flight, Fackrell engaged M.L. in conversation while R.L. had headphones on and was working and watching a movie,” court documents say. “Fackrell and M.L. had a long and varied conversation. Fackrell had several alcoholic beverages. Later, R.L. got up to use the restroom in the rear of the plane and M.L. followed him.
“When they returned to their seats, M.L. put on headphones and began to watch a movie. She could hear Fackrell continue to talk to himself but was not paying him any attention. Fackrell placed his hand in front of M.L.’s screen and told her to pause her movie. M.L. took off her headphones and realized that Fackrell had his hand clutched with what appeared to her as a knife, inches from her skin at her throat/neck area near the collar of her shirt.
“Fackrell then stood up and started yelling ‘She’s going to be OK,’ and ‘no one needs to worry.’ He then told R.L. to ‘get the f-ck out of there.’ R.L. went to the front of the aircraft to get assistance from the flight attendant.”
That is when the woman “lunged for the aisle to escape. Fackrell reached for her and tried to stop her by grabbing her shoulder. M.L. was able to break free and run towards the front of the aircraft.
Passenger intervention
“Passenger R.H. was seated across the aisle in seat 6F and observed the incident. After M.L. went to the front of the plane, R.H. noticed Fackrell still had something clutched in his hand but was unsure what it was. He then began a confrontation with Fackrell and was able to get him to put the object down on the seat. R.H. grabbed the object, which looked like a knife, from the seat and passed it off for safekeeping. R.H. then sat next to Fackrell for the duration of the flight.”
The “knife-like object taken from Fackrell was retained by the flight crew.”
