American Douses Crying Baby on Brazil-Bound Flight

[aalmiss]

:shock:

What gets into these people???!!

You can see the article and a picture of Ronald Duffy here:
[b:5cb144818c][u:5cb144818c]Click here[/u:5cb144818c][/b:5cb144818c]

Dianne

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[b:5cb144818c]American Douses Crying Baby on Brazil-Bound Flight[/b:5cb144818c]
[i:5cb144818c]Thu January 29, 2004 12:26 PM ET[/i:5cb144818c]

SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Poor Ronald Duffy. First he couldn't get into Brazil. Now he can't get out.

The 35-year-old Pennsylvania native was barred entry in the South American country after he threw water on a baby whose crying annoyed him on the long flight from Miami, police said on Thursday.

Duffy, who had been planning to spend Carnival with his Brazilian girlfriend in the city of Salvador, was arrested by federal police at Sao Paulo international airport when the flight landed on Wednesday.

"I think I overreacted a little," Duffy told Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper.

Police said Duffy appeared to be drunk on the flight. When the baby began to cry, he complained he could not sleep. He then asked for a glass of water and doused the toddler with it as the shocked parents watched.

The other passengers "nearly lynched him" and applauded when police boarded the aircraft to arrest him, the newspaper said.

Duffy, who said he had been taking medicine to sleep, was supposed to fly back to the United States on Thursday morning. But the Varig flight he boarded brought him back to the gate before take-off after he "acted up" again, police said.

"He behaved badly when he boarded the plane," said police spokesman Wagner Castilho, without elaborating.

"He's still being held at the airport, but he'll definitely fly out tonight, even if he needs a police escort."

TAM, the airline that took Duffy to Brazil, had refused to carry him back, a TAM spokesperson said.

Duffy is the second U.S. citizen this month to be barred entry in Brazil following a run-in with the police.

Two weeks ago an American Airlines pilot was arrested and fined almost $13,000 after making an obscene gesture while being photographed by immigration officials in Sao Paulo.

© Reuters 2004.