The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Police claim United passenger violent
Reports state David Dao ‘started to fight’ over removal.
Newly released police documents claim that Dr. David Dao, the passenger who was shown being dragged off a United Airlines flight on April 9 in widely shared videos, behaved violently toward the officers removing him, but his lawyer dismissed the account as “utter nonsense.”
The police reports were released Monday in response to a freedom of information request filed by news organizations. The releases included audio of the original call to the Chicago Department of Aviation police, personnel reports about the officers and an incident report that appeared to blame Dao for his own injuries.
His lawyer, Thomas Demetrio, has said Dao may need surgery after suffering a concussion and broken nose and having two of his teeth knocked out.
The incident report details the attempt of an officer identified as James Long to remove Dao from the flight. The officer, it says, “attempted to assist the subject off his seat with two hands, but the subject started swinging his arms up and down fast and violently.”
After Long pulled Dao from his seat, the report says, “the subject then started flailing his arms and started to fight with Officer Long, then fell and hit his mouth on the armrest across from him.”
Demetrio dismissed the report out of hand. “It’s utter nonsense,” he said in a statement. “Consider the source.”
All four officers involved in Dao’s removal have been placed on administrative leave.
United was attempting to make seats available for a flight crew that needed to be in Kentucky. The airline tried to get volunteers, but when no one stepped forward four people were selected and told to leave. Two complied, but Dao refused, saying he had patients to see the next day.
Multiple passengers made videos confrontation that followed, in which Dao was dragged down the aisle by his arms. He was later seen returning to the flight with a bloodied mouth in a state of confusion. He was eventually removed on a stretcher.
Ginger Evans, the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation, said Tuesday that she was unhappy that the agency’s police officers were made to remove Dao, suggesting that it was not an appropriate task for the officers.
United has missed several deadlines imposed by Washington lawmakers to answer questions about the matter.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., a member of the Aviation Operations, Safety and Security Subcommittee, said in a statement on Tuesday that she was “disappointed and troubled” by the lack of response to a letter asking for a more detailed account.