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Man Who Groped Flight Attendant: My Blood Sugar Made Me Do It
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 10, 2011
Modified Jun 10, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 10, 2011
Modified Jun 10, 2011
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A Ukrainian tourist pleaded guilty yesterday to sexually assaulting a flight attendant during a flight from London to JFK. 53-year-old Iurii Chumak, who as you can see here was sent over straight from Central Casting, was drinking straight from a bottle of Dewar's on the April 28th flight when the unidentified flight attendant bent over to pour coffee for another passenger near him. That's when Chumak seized the opportunity to slide his hand up her skirt, “grabbed her genital area” and “began to run his fingers back and forth." That Chumak—what a charmer!
Other passengers witnessed the incident, and Chumak was placed in restraints for the remainder of the flight. The FBI was waiting for him when the flight touched down, and he's spent the last month and change in the Brooklyn House of D. Though Chumak initially claimed he passed out drunk and then woke up in restraints, yesterday he admitted that he intentionally groped the woman, telling the judge, "I'm very sorry that it happened."
As for his motive, Chumak attributed his behavior to his "blood sugar" levels, which means the airline may be partially at fault for not serving Diet Dewar's? Eh, we could use some coffee over here. He faces up to six months in jail, a $5,000 fine, and will eventually will be deported back to his homeland, the Post reports.
Tagged
air travel
blood sugar
dewar's
groper
groping
jfk airport
sexual assault
ukranians
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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