DOJ: JetBlue passenger held razor blade to woman’s throat on flight

Jared Gans
·1 min read
21

A Utah man was arrested after he held a razor blade to a woman’s throat while on a JetBlue flight on Monday, according to the Justice Department.

A Wednesday release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah states that 41-year-old Merrill Darrell Fackrell from the city of Syracuse, which is just north of Salt Lake City, was charged on Tuesday with carrying a weapon on an aircraft and assault with a dangerous weapon in the special aircraft jurisdiction.

The release states that the plane Fackrell was on departed from JFK International Airport in New York en route to Salt Lake City International Airport and that Fackrell was seated next to married passengers.

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Fackrell allegedly placed his hand in front of the woman’s screen and told her to pause her movie at one point during the flight. The woman reportedly removed her headphones and noticed Fackrell’s hand was clutched with what seemed to be a knife inches away from her throat and neck.

Authorities say the woman’s husband went to the front of the plane to get help from a flight attendant. The woman lunged to the aisle to escape, and Fackrell grabbed her shoulder to try to stop her, according to the release.

The object that Fackrell was holding was “secured” and later identified as a wood-handled straightedge razor with a blade of one to two inches.

The Salt Lake City Police Department and an FBI task force officer are investigating the incident.

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