A Delaware man was arrested and banned from air travel after allegedly masturbating in front of a woman sitting next to him on a flight from Philadelphia to Denver Monday.
According to a federal affidavit, Murali Krishna Nookella was charged with obscene and indecent exposure, “by exhibiting his penis to a female passenger,” reports the Daily News.
The local Internet technology employee was reclined in his seat with a blanket covering his waist when the woman next to him, “noticed that Nookella's eyes were closed as his hands moved all around his groin area underneath his blanket," the document said.
"You caught me," he said.
"Yeah, I did," she replied, according to the affidavit.
According to NBC 10 reporter Deanna Durante, who was also a passenger on Denver Flight 228, Nookella tried to change seats several times while carrying a blanket in front of him.
Nookella moved to another passenger’s seat immediately after the incident, but that passenger came back from the bathroom and called a flight attendant, according to Durante.
Before searching for another seat, Nookella took the time to go to the restroom, Durante said.
Once the plane landed in Denver, all passengers had to stay on the plane for about 30 minutes, until TSA and FBI officials escorted Nookella off the plane, Durante said.
“He created commotion to say least,” Durante said.
Nookella was released on $5,000 unsecured bond and “ordered by the court not to fly on any commercial aircraft nor can he contact witnesses involved in the matter,” Jeffrey Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver told the Daily News.
