Drunk Passenger Arrested After Locking Himself in Airport Bathroom to Drink and Smoke

Image: PHOTO: General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport. (photo via ghornephoto/iStock/Getty Images Plus)
Image: PHOTO: General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport. (photo via ghornephoto/iStock/Getty Images Plus)
Patrick Clarke
by Patrick Clarke
Last updated: 9:10 AM ET, Fri January 10, 2020

A drunk passenger caused quite the stir at Illinois' General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport last weekend.

According to The State Journal-Register, a 50-year-old man described as "visibly intoxicated" locked himself inside of a bathroom stall on Saturday night, drinking and smoking before eventually asking police to take him to jail.

The unidentified man was first alerted to authorities around 6:10 p.m. on Saturday after a cafe waitress refused to serve him a coffee with whiskey. "The waitress stated that the passenger's manner made her very uncomfortable," a Peoria County sheriff's report stated. "The waitress further advised that the passenger had stated he had several knives on or about his person, one of which was lying on the bar in front of him."

The man told police that he would throw the knives away and was then instructed to leave the cafe and wait for his flight. However, not long after, a woman complained that the same man was vaping in a lounge area and making her uncomfortable.

The same officer took the man outside to get some fresh air but was called back just 30 minutes later after TSA deemed the passenger too drunk to board his flight. This time, the officer called the man a taxi to take him to a nearby hotel.

Once the taxi arrived though, the man had locked himself inside of a bathroom stall. The officer reported that the man smoked a cigarette and was drinking from a liquor bottle before eventually asking to be taken to jail.

Police used a lock-out tool to jimmy the stall door open nearly an hour later and the man was booked on charges of criminal trespass to land and resisting or obstructing a peace officer.

Earlier this week, a British woman was sentenced to six months in jail for asking fellow passengers to help her join the mile high club and assaulting crew members.


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Patrick Clarke

Patrick Clarke

Senior Editor

A Maryland native and wanderer who has lived across the U.S. from North Carolina to SoCal, Patrick Clarke graduated from Towson University with a B.S. in journalism. He previously worked for Bleacher

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