Man alleges his wife was assaulted physically and verbally by passenger on flight to Phoenix
A woman was harassed by a man shouting racist and misogynistic insults on a flight to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, her husband claimed on social media.
Phoenix police confirmed officers were called to the airport regarding the incident but said the FBI will take over the investigation since the incident happened above the Gulf of Mexico, out of their jurisdiction.
A woman, identified as Saarah Sareshwala in a series of tweets from her husband, was on a flight to Phoenix from Florida on Saturday morning after attending a conference when a man sitting in front of her began assaulting her, a tweet said.
She had rested her head on her tray table, attempting to sleep, when the man "violently pushed his seat back in an attempt to hurt Saarah Sareshwala while her head was there," according to a tweet from her husband, Faraaz Sareshwala.
This man violently pushed his seat back in an attempt to hurt @saarahfaraaz while her head was there. After coming to, she initially thought it was an accident; someone falling down in their own seat after returning from the bathroom or something.
— Faraaz Sareshwala (@fsareshwala) September 25, 2022
At first, she assumed this was an accident, the tweets say, and went to the bathroom to check her injuries. Her seatmates, a mother and daughter, saw the incident and asked the crew for ice to help Saarah Sareshwala, a tweet said.
While Saarah Sareshwala was still in the bathroom, flight attendants began serving drinks, and "the man and his wife discussed using their seat in this way again so that Saarah's drink would spill on her," Faraaz Sareshwala tweeted.
— Phoenix Police (@PhoenixPolice) September 27, 2022
When Sareshwala returned, the man continued to adjust his seat and began to spew "racial slurs and misogynistic venom at Saarah," according to Faraaz Sareshwala.
After observing, the mother and daughter, who were not fully identified in the tweets, confronted him about his behavior, which was met with more inappropriate comments from the man.
Saarah Sareshwala informed the Southwest Airlines crew, who offered to switch her seat. She refused this as she felt safer staying with the mother and daughter who witnessed the incident, according to her husband's tweets.
The daughter complained again to a different flight attendant and stressed the severity of the incident, the tweets go on to say. They were concerned Sareshwala may have had a concussion, Faraaz Sareshwala said.
The airline crew then "requested law enforcement meet the aircraft upon arrival," according to a statement from Southwest Airlines.
Once the plane landed, Phoenix police responded to the scene and "conducted an assault investigation, which is still under review," according to authorities.
They interviewed the accused man and his wife, as well as Sareshwala, and the mother and daughter.
Phoenix police released a statement on the incident Tuesday.
Due to jurisdiction rulings, the details were sent to the FBI, which will determine if there is enough evidence to press charges. The FBI has not made a comment about the case.
In a statement, Southwest Airlines told The Arizona Republic that it maintains "zero-tolerance for any type of alleged harassment or assault on our Customers or Employees."
"We still do not know why he became so violent. However, I do know that my wife has never felt so violated, voiceless, and powerless," Faraaz Sareshwala said in a tweet.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Woman claims assault by passenger on Southwest flight to Phoenix
