A Florida man arrested for hopping off a taxiing Delta flight at LaGuardia Airport said he was having a panic attack – only making the bold move with his girlfriend and service dog because the crew refused to turn and call them. let go.
“I got anxiety and depression,” said Antonio Murdock outside Queens Criminal Court, where he was charged Tuesday with trespass and reckless threat.
“It was a panic attack,” said Murdock. “I asked them three or four times to release me. They said they stopped the plane and they never stopped the plane, and I got to the point where I just felt dizzy. “
“I didn’t even know there was a slot to go down the slide,” he said. ‘I just thought it was an ordinary door. I don’t know what I was thinking at the time. I did not commit a crime. “
Murdock, 31, and his 23-year-old girlfriend, Brianna Greco, were on board Delta Flight 462 bound for Atlanta at around 11 a.m. on Monday when they opened the cabin door and jumped off the inflatable emergency slide at Queens airport.
They took their Great Dane puppy, Rain, downstairs, authorities said.
Queens Assistant District Attorney Robin Kwalbrun asked to release Murdock on bail, citing previous criminal cases and $ 173,000 in damage to the Airbus A321 as a result of the stunt.
But attorney Julian Oladiran, legal aid attorney, asked for his client without bail.
“I don’t see any harm to the flight attendant or anything that would have been done to the flight attendant, except for the statement that he wanted to leave the plane.”
Judge Toko Serita agreed to release Murdock without bail and issued a protection order to prevent him from coming into contact with the flight attendant.
When asked about the damage to the plane, Murdock said he “had no idea.”
‘I have not committed a crime. I have mental health problems, ”he said. “People make mistakes.”