Flight attendant sues over police incident By Robert MoranInquirer Staff Writer
A flight attendant has sued the city, alleging she was slapped in the face and threatened with arrest by a Philadelphia police officer aboard a US Airways plane in December.
Leslie Miller had just arrived Dec. 1 in Philadelphia on the final flight of her 27-year career when a female officer boarded the plane and announced she was responding to a medical emergency, Miller told The Inquirer later that day.
There was no emergency, but a man in a wheelchair needed to be carried off the plane, Miller said. A dispute arose between the flight crew and the police officer, who was preventing passengers from leaving the plane.
In the suit, Miller alleges that Officer Willie Carroll "without cause or justification, verbally abused [Miller], assaulted [her] by striking her head, and threatened to arrest" her.
Miller was not arrested, and Carroll left the plane, the suit says.
The incident is under investigation by the Police Department's Internal Affairs Bureau. Capt. Benjamin Naish, a police spokesman, declined to comment on the investigation.
Carroll, who could not be reached yesterday for comment, also was named as defendant in the suit.
Paul Messing, Miller's lawyer, declined to comment on the facts of the case.
In August, an insurance company paid $750,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a minister who alleged he was assaulted and nearly paralyzed by an officer at the airport.
The Miller lawsuit alleges that the city tolerates abuse of police powers.
A lawyer for the city was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Several years ago, a similar incident happened on HP where a bunch of police officers got drunk and harrassed the flight attendants, but they didn't get in trouble because they are police officers.
A flight attendant has sued the city, alleging she was slapped in the face and threatened with arrest by a Philadelphia police officer aboard a US Airways plane in December.
Leslie Miller had just arrived Dec. 1 in Philadelphia on the final flight of her 27-year career when a female officer boarded the plane and announced she was responding to a medical emergency, Miller told The Inquirer later that day.
There was no emergency, but a man in a wheelchair needed to be carried off the plane, Miller said. A dispute arose between the flight crew and the police officer, who was preventing passengers from leaving the plane.
In the suit, Miller alleges that Officer Willie Carroll "without cause or justification, verbally abused [Miller], assaulted [her] by striking her head, and threatened to arrest" her.
Miller was not arrested, and Carroll left the plane, the suit says.
The incident is under investigation by the Police Department's Internal Affairs Bureau. Capt. Benjamin Naish, a police spokesman, declined to comment on the investigation.
Carroll, who could not be reached yesterday for comment, also was named as defendant in the suit.
Paul Messing, Miller's lawyer, declined to comment on the facts of the case.
In August, an insurance company paid $750,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a minister who alleged he was assaulted and nearly paralyzed by an officer at the airport.
The Miller lawsuit alleges that the city tolerates abuse of police powers.
A lawyer for the city was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Several years ago, a similar incident happened on HP where a bunch of police officers got drunk and harrassed the flight attendants, but they didn't get in trouble because they are police officers.
