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Delta pilot gets 10 months in jail for showing up to flight drunk with half-empty bottle of Jägermeister
A Delta pilot who showed up drunk to a flight has been sentenced to 10 months in jail by a Scottish court.
Lawrence Russell Jr. pled guilty to reporting for duty as a pilot while exceeding the prescribed blood alcohol limit, according to a sentencing statement released by the Judiciary of Scotland. Such statements are released at a judge’s discretion.
Russell, an American citizen from Georgia, was scheduled to fly a Boeing 767 aircraft from Edinburgh International Airport to New York City’s JFK International Airport in June 2023. He arrived at the airport at 9:15 a.m. local time, about 90 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart.
When Russell, 63, sent his bag through an X-ray screener, it was rejected because there were too many liquids inside. When the bag was manually searched, it was found to contain two bottles of Jägermeister. One bottle was open and “just under half full,” according to the sentencing statement. Police were called because Russell was wearing his pilot’s uniform, including a lanyard and crew pass identifying him as a Delta Airlines employee.
Russell told police he was a captain with Delta, and said that he had not been drinking recently. Russell told police the bottles were from the previous evening. He was asked to give a breath sample, and “failed,” the sentencing statement said. The BBC reported that Russell’s breath test showed levels “twice the legal alcohol limit for pilots.” The legal alcohol limit for pilots is 0.04, or half the limit for those operating a vehicle, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Pilots may also not have consumed alcohol within eight hours of flying under FAA rules.
Russell was arrested, and a blood sample was taken, again showing alcohol in his system. Meanwhile, the flight to New York was cancelled, forcing the airline to make alternate arrangements for hundreds of passengers.
Sheriff Alison Stirling said a prison sentence was necessary both as a punishment and for the “protection of the public,” noting that Russell will be able to be re-employed as a pilot after completing an Aviation Medical Certificate.
The BBC reported that the court heard that Russell had two previous convictions for driving while under the influence of alcohol in the United States.
Russell has since been treated for alcoholism, according to the BBC, and the sentencing statement noted that he had been diagnosed with Severe Alcohol Use Disorder and received treatment at a Georgia facility. He has not consumed alcohol for 277 days, his lawyer said, according to the BBC. Because of this treatment, Stirling reduced his sentence from 15 months to 10 months.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.