A wild scene was caught on video at Orlando International Airport on Sunday evening when an irate passenger was pepper-sprayed after attacking a JetBlue Airlines employee.
An eyewitness recorded several videos on her cellphone at the terminal showing the violent confrontation and its eye-watering aftermath.
JetBlue Flight 801 from Orlando to Salt Lake City was scheduled to depart at 6.45pm on Sunday, but it did not leave the gate until 8.51pm, which apparently made one traveller very upset.
A fellow passenger returning home to New Jersey captured the man in a white T-shirt and black slacks yelling and scuffling with JetBlue workers at Gate 3 on Sunday night.
She wrote on Twitter that the man was visibly drunk and that he flew into a rage over the two-hour delay.
The Orlando Police Department on Monday identified the suspect to DailyMail.com as 45-year-old Brandon Strong, of Layton, Utah.
The man's eight-year-old son, who was traveling with him, witnessed the entire incident.
Strong was booked into the Orange County Jail overnight on felony counts of battery on a law enforcement officer; depriving officer of means of protection or communication; resisting officer with violence; resisting officer without violence; neglect of a child; disorderly intoxication and battery.
Strong remained jailed this morning on bond totalling $6,500.
One video recorded by the bystander at the terminal shows Strong yelling and scuffling with airline staff.
Another video shows the man being pinned down by a uniformed police officer and a group of Good Samaritans.
A third video shows people at the gate coughing and sneezing after being exposed to fumes from the pepper spray that was deployed against Strong.
Dailymail.com obtained a copy of an arrest affidavit detailing the incident that landed the passenger behind bars.
According to the document, an Orlando police officer responded to the terminal just after 7.20pm to a report of a drunk individual who had yelled at a female passenger and called her a 'c***.'
As the officer approached Brandon Strong, he instructed him to let go of his bags and follow him.
'I could detect the strong odor of the impurities of alcohol on his breath,' he later wrote in the report.
Strong said nothing in reply and appeared to tighten his grip on his bags.
The officer then grabbed the passenger’s right wrist and informed him that he was being detained, to which Strong reportedly issued a threat that 'bad things would happen' if the cop did not let go of him.
The officer stated that Strong continued to resist his commands, which prompted him to warn the suspect that if he persisted, he would be pepper-sprayed, which is exactly what happened.
The officer then made an attempt to arrest Strong, but the 6-foot-tall, 180-pound man resisted the cop’s attempt to handcuff him. In response, the arresting officer conducted a leg sweep to take the man down.
But even lying prostrate on the floor Strong continued fighting back and was able to rip the cop's radio off of his bulletproof vest and remove two extra magazines from their holsters, according to the affidavit.
When backup arrived, Strong was escorted from the terminal to an awaiting patrol vehicle.
On the way there, the 45-year-old allegedly kicked the officer in the leg, which caused him to fall on his face.
He later refused to walk any further and had to be carried by three cops to the police car.
En route to the county jail, Strong reportedly referred to the JetBlue worker who initially confronted him at the gate as 'Paul Bart [sic] Mall Cop,' threatened to 'come after him with everything he's got' and mentioned that he has a concealed weapons permit and a gun, according to the document.
When the arresting officer asked Strong what he meant by that, he replied 'that he knows a lot of people in the White House’ from his work as a contractor at an Air Force base in Utah.
Strong's LinkedIn page indicates that he is the president of a company specializing in defense contracts called Strong Aerospace Consulting.
The affidavit stated that Strong's son witnessed his father's arrest and remained at the terminal until a family member arrived to make arrangements for the child’s return to Utah, where he lives with his mother.
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