{"id":21947,"date":"2016-03-31T16:50:25","date_gmt":"2016-03-31T23:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=21947"},"modified":"2016-03-31T16:54:47","modified_gmt":"2016-03-31T23:54:47","slug":"man-convicted-choking-hitting-fellow-airline-passenger-reclined-seat-flight-return-lax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=21947","title":{"rendered":"Man Convicted of Choking and Hitting Fellow Airline Passenger Over Reclined Seat, Flight Had to Return to LAX"},"content":{"rendered":"
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LOS ANGELES<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"Courtroom\"\u00a0A Northern California man has been convicted of a federal assault charge for choking and hitting a fellow passenger on a flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Lawrence Wells, Jr.<\/strong>, 54, of Richmond, California, was convicted by a jury Wednesday.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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According to the evidence at trial, Wells and the victim were passengers on board Southwest Airlines flight 2010 from Los Angeles to San Francisco on October 18 last year.\u00a0 Wells was seated directly behind the victim.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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The flight was scheduled to take off from Los Angeles International Airport at 7:10 p.m. but was delayed both in boarding and on the tarmac.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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While the flight was on the tarmac, the victim reclined her seat.\u00a0 Wells summoned a flight attendant and angrily pointed at the victim\u2019s reclined seat.\u00a0 The flight attended instructed the victim to return her seat to the upright position.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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The flight did not actually take off until 10:30 p.m.\u00a0 A few minutes after the flight left Los Angeles, the victim reclined her seat again.\u00a0 At that time, Wells reached around the victim\u2019s chair and choked her for five to ten seconds.\u00a0 He also punched her in the head with a closed fist.\u00a0 The pilot returned the flight to LAX.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201cDefendant\u2019s violent reaction the frustrations of air travel was beyond the bounds of civilized behavior,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker.<\/strong> \u201cThe victim was fortunate that she did not suffer greater injuries, because she had no way to defend herself from this defendant\u2019s attack.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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The victim testified that, as a result of the assault, she suffered a concussion and experienced persistent nausea, dizziness, headaches, neck pain, loss of appetite, significant anxiety, and ringing in her ear, among other symptoms.\u00a0 The jury, however, acquitted the defendant of the felony count of assault causing serious bodily injury.<\/span><\/div>\n
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After Wells\u2019 conviction Wednesday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner<\/strong> set sentencing for June 27, 2016. Wells is facing up to six months in prison.<\/span><\/div>\n
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The FBI investigated this case.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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