A former NFL player who was a standout lineman at Boston College is accused of urinating on a passenger during a flight out of Boston Logan, according to Massachusetts State Police.
Gosder Cherilus, 40, of Wakefield, was arrested over the weekend following the alleged incident on board a Delta flight to Ireland.
Following his arraignment on Monday, he blamed his behavior on a “sleeping medication.”
Delta had called for State Police to respond on Sunday at around 2 a.m., after the flight to Dublin had returned to Logan “because of an unruly passenger who urinated on another passenger on board,” State Police said.
Upon arrival at Terminal E, State Police Troop F and Customs and Boarder Patrol personnel boarded the aircraft and identified the suspect as Cherilus.
“Troopers verbally commanded Cherilus to leave the plane, but he became irate and uncooperative,” State Police said. “Eventually, Troopers escorted Cherilus to the jet bridge and placed him under arrest for Disorderly Conduct and Disturbing a Flight Crew.”
He was also charged with resisting arrest.
“Cherilus refused verbal commands and was being argumentative at this time and become non-complaint to verbal order to remove himself off the plane,” the police report reads. “Cherilus was informed he will be placed in handcuffs due to the incident during the flight. Cherilus became resistant.
“He began clenching his fist and refusing to put his hands behind his back,” the report states. “Due to his large size, myself and Sergeant Papkee used two sets of handcuffs to restrain him.”
He’s listed as 6’7″ in the police report.
Cherilus was arraigned in East Boston District Court and posted bail of $2,500, which the Suffolk DA’s office asked to remain with the case.
“Commonwealth also asked for conditions that the defendant remain drug & alcohol free with screens and stay away from Logan Airport except for legitimate travel,” the DA’s office added. “The court adopted those conditions and imposed a stay away from the witnesses.”
The next date in the case is Oct. 11 for pretrial.
Cherilus following his arraignment issued a statement on social media.
“The flight was unexpectedly delayed for approximately four hours, and it did not take off until after 12:30 a.m.,” he posted.
“In preparation for the unexpected overnight flight, I took a sleeping medication that I don’t normally use, which resulted in behavior that is not representative of my character, and I would like to apologize to the passengers and flight crew,” he stated.
— Gosder Cherilus (@GosderCherilus) August 19, 2024
After playing at BC in the mid-2000s and setting a school record with 51 consecutive starts, Cherilus became a first-round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft and played in the league for eight seasons. He played on the Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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