Miami-Dade Department of Corrections

 

Jonathan and Luis Baez were arrested for attacking an American Airlines pilot who kicked one of them off the plane for appearing to be drunk or high.

Jonathan and Luis Baez, both of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, were arrested at Miami International Airport on Wednesday night for the assault, which left the pilot bruised and bloodied and delayed the San Francisco-bound flight more than two hours.

The scuffle started after a flight attendant noticed that Jonathan Baez, 27, had passed out without buckling his seat belt as the plane pulled away from the gate.

The attendant tried to wake Baez, but he was groggy and appeared plastered on booze or high on drugs, cops said.

After the attendant told the crew that Baez wouldn't buckle up, the pilot stopped taxiing and turned around, cops said.

When Baez finally came to, the attendant told him he had to get off the plane.

"He was apparently barely compliant at that point," American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said. "He was exhibiting symptoms of intoxication. He was not walking well when he went up the aisle."

Luis Baez, 29, decided to follow his brother, and the two screamed obscenities at the pilot.

"When you fly to San Juan, I will have you killed," one of the goons shouted, according to police.

Crew members escorted the brothers off the plane, but Jonathan ran back, punched the pilot in the face and then punched a female flight attendant who tried to step in, cops said.

Luis then joined in the vicious beatdown, and the two hoodlums chased the pilot into the terminal, cops said.

Eventually, some passengers and crew members tackled the brothers and held them down until police arrived.

"There was a scuffle … so about three or four of us went out there and tackled the guys," passenger Ken Venting told KGO television. "So we just did what we needed to do to help out."

The Miami-based pilot was cut up, bruised and shaken after the attack, police said.

Another pilot showed up, and the 176 passengers and six crew members took off for San Francisco at around 11:30 p.m., two hours after the scheduled take off.

Jonathan and Luis Baez were held at Miami-Dade County jail on $9,000 bond and $12,500 bond on assault and battery charges.

"I think it's fair to say that both these gentlemen won't be flying with us again," Smith said.