Baggy Pants Lead To Football Player’s Arrest
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL: Saggy Pants Lead To College Football...
Posted: 7:09 am PDT June 16, 2011Updated: 12:50 pm PDT June 16, 2011
SAN FRANCISCO -- A University of New Mexico football player, who was in the Bay Area to attend a friend’s funeral, was in custody Thursday after his citizen’s arrest by a pilot on a US Airway’s flight led to a melee with San Francisco police officers, authorities said.
San Francisco Police Sgt. Michael Rodriguez said 20-year-old Deshon Marman was told by a customer service agent to pull up his low-slung pants as he boarded a Phoenix-bound flight Wednesday morning at San Francisco International Airport
He refused and was again asked by a flight attendant as he was boarding the plane.
Rodriguez said Marman again refused and the attendant called the captain, who placed the 20-year-old under citizen’s arrest.
“The incident started in the boarding area prior to getting onto the aircraft,” Rodriguez said. “The customer service agent for US Airways asked the gentleman to pull his pants up which were down around his knees. She told him that (wearing his pants like that) was not going to be allowed on the aircraft.”
“He went down the jetway and was asked again to pull his pants up…The flight attendant at the door said he told her – ‘I paid for my ticket and I’m just going to do what I have to do.’ So he got onboard and sat down in his seat.”
Rodriguez said both the flight attendant and the agent said they thought it was offensive that Marman’s pants were around his knees and his underwear exposed.
The captain requested police assistance and was told to place Marman under citizen’s arrest. Marman was told to leave the plane, but a heated discussion ensued and all the other 150 passengers were removed from the aircraft.
“The officers stood by until the aircraft was emptied out,” Rodriguez said. “He came out…because of the slight struggle that he put up and not complying with the officers commands, he was wrapped in a special wrap we use to carry custodies down the jetway stairs.”
Marman was charged with trespassing for not leaving the aircraft, battery on a peace officer and resisting arrest.
The FBI had been notified, but there will be no federal charges.
Rodriguez said the other passengers were upset by the delay in their flight and the incident.
“A lot thought this could have been handled by the gentleman simply pulling up his pants – they questioned why he simply didn’t do it,” Rodriguez said.
Marman's mother, Donna Doyle, said that her son had attended a friend's funeral and he was still in an emotionally raw state.
US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder says the airline's dress code forbids "indecent exposure or inappropriate" attire.
Copyright 2011 by KTVU.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
