THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 17, 1994 TAG: 9412170238
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOE JACKSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 115 lines
An American Airlines jet made an emergency stop in Norfolk on Thursday when a 24-year-old street vendor who thought he was God struggled with flight attendants, tried to break into the flight cabin and finally tried to open the exit door while the plane was in flight, authorities said.
Jose Antonio Torres, a resident alien from the Dominican Republic, was taken into custody by FBI agents shortly after American Flight 647, from New York City to Puerto Rico, landed at Norfolk International Airport about 6 p.m. Thursday.
He was charged with interfering with flight personnel, a federal offense with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
No weapons were involved, but one person told flight attendants he was injured during the melee that apparently started soon after Flight 647 left the gates at John F. Kennedy Airport at 3:32 p.m. The flight left Norfolk at 7:42 p.m. and landed in Puerto Rico without further incident.
During two hearings on Friday, U.S. Magistrate Tommy E. Miller informed Torres of the charges and ordered him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, which will take 60 days.
``What am I being charged with, sir?'' Torres asked through an interpreter. Miller read the charges while three family members who drove from New York listened in the back row. Miller also asked whether Torres wanted a court-appointed lawyer.
``God will be my attorney. . . . God shall give me the power of attorney,'' Torres said. ``I am competent . . . I don't need a psychiatrist, I can change the psychiatrist's mind.''
``Maybe you can convince him of that,'' Miller said, then asked federal marshals to arrange medicalfacilities for Torres in a local jail until he could be transfered to a federal hospital in Butner, N.C.
Court records and interviews with Torres' family reveal the tale of a man whose personality changed after he was robbed Nov. 20 by two men in the Corona section of Queens, N.Y.
During the assault, Torres was beaten 20 times in the head and legs with a baseball bat and stabbed 16 times in the left arm with a screwdriver, said his brother-in-law, Jose Marte.
``His head was swelling, he got eight stitches in his head and in his leg,'' Marte said. ``The doctor himself told him it was a miracle he was alive. Still, with that, they released him from the hospital after a day.''
In June, Torres and his wife came to the United States from Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, federal records show. Soon Torres was making a living selling perfume, clothes and watches on the street, Marte said.
Two days before the assault, he argued with his wife and moved out. He took a room and was returning there from work when he was robbed. There have been no arrests, Marte said.
Torres showed no signs of mental problems until three days ago. ``Then he started talking about how he talked with God, how he didn't need money,'' Marte said.
``Before that he was very quiet. Now he was 100 percent different. He called his mother in Santo Domingo. . . . He said he was going home, he needed rest somewhere where there was no pressure.''
So on Thursday, Torres boarded Flight 647, an A-300 Airbus, American Airline officials said. Ten crew members and 237 passengers were on board. Torres planned to arrive in San Juan, Puerto Rico, at 7:55 p.m., then make a connection to Santo Domingo.
But his delusions got in the way, court records show. According to an affidavit by FBI Special Agent James Samples, who arrested Torres in Norfolk, this is what happened on the plane:
Torres apparently learned that a passenger with AIDS was also on the flight. Torres approached Andrew Wright, the first flight attendant, and told him he ``was a man of God and he wanted to talk to the passenger who was sick.''
Wright told Torres that his services were not needed. Still, Torres located the passenger, talked, then threw his coffee and an empty juice glass to the floor. Torres then ``attempted to pick up the AIDS passenger.''
Wright approached Torres and tried reasoning with him, but Torres ``insisted that he was God'' and asked whether Wright knew that ``he was talking to God.'' Torres then put his hand on Wright's shoulder and ``attempted to put him down.''
Wright called the cockpit and told the captain what was happening. The captain told Wright to get another flight attendant for help.
But Torres had returned to his seat - though not for long. Announcing he was God, Torres again approached the AIDS passenger. He then ``took the AIDS passenger's legs and lifted them over his head.''
Matters quickly grew chaotic. Wright called the captain, who decided to land in Norfolk and meet police. Torres ``entered the first-class section and attempted to open the exit door to the outside.''
Wright and another flight attendant apparently wrestled Torres away from the door, and Wright phoned the cockpit. Torres grabbed the phone away and started screaming at the captain. But he couldn't operate the phone, so he went to the cockpit and banged on the locked door, demanding entrance.
Pandemonium now apparently gripped Flight 647. Wright hurried to a phone in the rear galley and warned the captain not to open the door. Torres returned to his seat, where some passengers tried to restrain him. By now, ``most passengers were returning to their seats.''
Torres argued with a passenger, ``then threw himself to the ground, lying face down with his hands under his forehead.''
An off-duty New York police officer stood up and offered his help. Wright called the captain, who said that if Torres stood again, the officer should restrain him. But Torres rose, returned to his seat and sat quietly. There were no further disturbances.
FBI agents arrested Torres without incident when the plane landed. They seized his belongings, including his Bible.
On Friday, Torres asked the magistrate to return his Bible. He pointed to his family and waved.
And he told the court: ``I want my mother.'' ILLUSTRATION: JOHN EARLE
Staff illustration
Defendant Jose Antonio Torres, left, speaks to Magistrate Tommy E.
Miller, right, with the help of interpreter Rene Perez-Lopez at
Friday morning's hearing.
KEYWORDS: ARREST FLIGHT EMERGENCY LANDING PYSCHIATRIC EVALUATION by CNB