Employees work at the Spirit Airline ticket counter at Indianapolis International Airport in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. Frontier Group Holdings Inc. agreed to buy Spirit Airlines Inc. for $2.9 billion in cash and stock, uniting two ultra-low-cost carriers targeting the recovering U.S. leisure-travel market. Spirit shares rose the most in 14 months. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images
An Ohio man has been charged after trying to strangle a police officer during a disturbance at an Orlando airport, according to WFTV-9.
Edward Hariston, 41, was booked into the Orange County jail Wednesday on charges of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, and disorderly conduct, the outlet reports.
On Tuesday, the airport’s Spirit Airlines ticket counter called the police regarding a disturbance at their desk.
There, responding officers arrived to find a large group of people “becoming aggressive with Spirit staff and threatening them.”
As the group continued to yell at each other, a Spirit ticket agent asked officers for help while claiming Hariston had assaulted him.
Cops approached Hariston and a woman he was with as they loudly yelled at a Spirit employee.
Hariston allegedly proceeded to put the officer in a chokehold and began to squeeze when the cop went to grab his arm to subdue him.
The officer said he went unconscious from the choke.
“I began to get dizzy and immediately spotty as my airflow was restricted and I was beginning to lose consciousness,” the officer said in the incident report.
The incident was posted on a video to TikTok, where officers can be seen swarming Hariston to subdue him.
According to Fox 35 Orlando, the situation in the clip is the same one Hariston was involved in.
The officer, who was not publicly named, eventually broke free from Hariston’s chokehold. But the report did not say the officer sustained any severe injuries.
He added that Hariston later commented that he “let (him) live” and that “he could’ve killed me,” according to WFTV-9.
Meanwhile, as of Thursday (Jun. 29), Hariston is being held at the Orange County jail. However, no bond has been set as of this article’s publication.
