Intoxicated US marshal arrested, accused of inappropriate act on NYC flight

One of two US Marshals travelling on the international flight was charged with intoxication and accused of sexual assault. Photo / Unsplash, Hanson Lu

A deputy US marshal was detained in the UK on suspicion of acting inappropriately while intoxicated on a flight from New York, the agency said Wednesday.

The deputy was one of two who flew on a Delta Airlines flight to London Tuesday to bring back a person suspected of a crime when the federal agent was accused of acting inappropriately toward at least one woman on board the flight, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The second deputy was also briefly detained and later sent back to the United States, the person said. The official was not authorised to publicly detail the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

The incident was first reported by NBC.

The officer who was arrested on Wednesday for sexual assault was also charged with entering an aircraft while drunk.

NBC reported that he man now facing charges was one of two marshals, flying with a felon was being extradited to the UK.

“The US Marshals Service takes seriously any allegations of misconduct by its employees. The alleged actions of the employees do not reflect the professionalism of the thousands of employees of the USMS or its core values,” said a statement from the branch of armed US aviation police. The Marshal Service could not comment further but said it was cooperating with relevant UK agencies.

USA Today reported that Delta said it was aware of “unruly passenger behaviour” on the flight.

The US Marshals said in a statement that the agency takes allegations of misconduct by its employees seriously and it’s cooperating with the investigation by UK law enforcement.

“The alleged actions of the employees do not reflect the professionalism of the thousands of employees of the USMS or its core values,” the agency said.