Chris Christie’s niece bit and kicked deputies trying to escort her off a Spirit Airlines flight after she asked passengers who she thought were Latino if they were ‘smuggling cocaine,’ report says

• Shannon Epstein, the niece of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, was arrested on Spirit Airways.

• Epstein reportedly requested passengers she thought had been Latino in the event that they had been carrying cocaine

• Epstein needed to be handcuffed to a wheelchair, The Occasions-Picayune reported.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s 25-year-old niece was arrested on a handful of expenses, together with six counts of battery, after inflicting a scene on a Spirit Airways flight departing from Louis Armstrong Worldwide Airport on Thanksgiving Day, the Occasions-Picayune reported. 

Earlier than the airplane’s departure for New Jersey, Shannon Epstein reportedly made passengers uncomfortable after asking a household she perceived to be Latino in the event that they had been “smuggling cocaine,” Capt. Jason Rivarde of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Workplace advised the Occasions-Picayune.

After staff requested she be faraway from the flight, Epstein resisted and started battling deputies, the Occasions-Picayune reported.

Six deputies had been injured, together with one who was bit by Epstein. One other deputy was kicked within the groin, the outlet reported.

Epstein was ultimately detained after seven deputies handcuffed her to a chair, however the politician’s niece reportedly taunted regulation enforcement by telling them they might get in hassle for arresting her on account of Christie’s connections to former President Donald Trump, the outlet reported.

Epstein was launched from Jefferson Parish Correctional Middle the identical day after paying $10,750 bail. She is ready to seem in court docket on January 23.

The case will most probably find yourself beneath the jurisdiction of a federal court docket, resulting from federal legal guidelines that pertain to passenger disruptions on planes.

The Jefferson Parish Police Division, Spirit Airways, and representatives for Christie didn’t instantly reply to Insider’s request for remark.

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