HE LATER ASSAULTED A POLICE OFFICER
A Northridge, California man was sentenced to two years prison on April 21 for assaulting a police officer after an in-flight disturbance resulting in an emergency landing at Kansas City International Airport in February 2022.
A Platte County jury had earlier convicted Juan Remberto Rivas, Jr. of assaulting a law enforcement officer and attempting to escape from custody following a three-day jury trial in March.
Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said, “After forcing a plane to make an emergency landing, this man assaulted a police officer. He’s dangerous, and he deserves to spend time in Missouri prison.”
Rivas was a passenger on an American Airlines flight carrying about 150 passengers that departed Los Angeles on Feb. 13, 2022, bound for Washington, D.C. During the flight, Rivas attempted to open a passenger door of the Boeing 737, saying, “I’m going to f—ing kill you all.”
Other passengers subdued Rivas, and the plane made an emergency landing at Kansas City International Airport. Upon landing, federal and state law enforcement officers took Rivas into custody.
Prosecutors proved at trial that, while being escorted to a police car to be taken to the Platte County Detention Center, Rivas broke free of his handcuffs and assaulted a KCI Airport police officer. The officer suffered a sprained hand and was forced to wear a splint for two weeks.
Rivas also tried to grab that officer’s weapon and said he was going to escape.
Rivas was sentenced to two years in prison for second degree assault of a law enforcement officer and one year in jail for attempting to escape from custody. Those sentences will run concurrently.
Rivas had also been charged in United States District Court with interfering with flight crewmembers for his actions aboard the flight. He pleaded guilty to that crime and received a 19-month federal sentence.
Zahnd said, “This defendant had already pleaded guilty to what he did in the air during this flight. Nevertheless, in Platte County, we will hold anyone who assaults a police officer accountable. Mr. Rivas will now serve time in Missouri prison after he completes his federal sentence.”
The case was investigated by the Kansas City International Airport Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Zachary McKnight and First Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Mark Gibson
