Kelly Pichardo, 30, and Leeza Rodriguez, 29, were recently arrested after an on-flight altercation that caused American Airlines flight 776 to be diverted. The two women are both from Bronx, New York, United States.
On February 25, 2021, Pichardo and Rodriguez were using racial slurs on the American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth in Texas, USA to Los Angeles, California, USA, KTLA quoted Phoenix Police Department sergeant Mercedes Fortune as saying. Pichardo allegedly spit at a male passenger who asked her and Rodriguez to stop using the inappropriate language.
When the man started recording them, Rodriguez allegedly hit his hand. Because of the altercation, the flight was diverted to Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA where Phoenix Police Department officers arrested her and Pichardo.
The name of the man Pichardo and Rodriguez had an altercation with has yet to be revealed. Law enforcement removed and arrested the Bronx residents “for verbally and physically assaulting other customers and flight crew members,” American Airlines said in a statement obtained by NBC New York.
Both Pichardo and Rodriguez were charged with disorderly conduct. The latter faces an additional charge of assault.
Neither Pichardo nor Rodriguez has a previous criminal history. The latter previously lived in Corona, Queens, New York.
Pichardo attended John F. Kennedy High School in Los Angeles. She worked as a receptionist at Con Edison, which is headquartered in New York.
CONAN Daily 