Wild footage captured the moment an American Airlines passenger who allegedly believed evil spirits were following him began throwing punches at flight attendants in a bizarre outburst one passenger described as “the most disturbing thing I’ve ever seen.”
Delange Augustin can be seen yelling and wildly swinging his arms and kicking his legs at the front of the plane as other passengers aboard jump in to restrain him, video obtained by CBS Miami shows.
After the passengers restrained him to the floor, Augustin swallowed a rosary as his sister, who was also on board, sang or chanted some kind of eerie hymns, according to passenger Rob Rosenberg.
“They were possessed,” Rosenberg told the outlet.
“That was a very, very, very disturbing scene. I’ve seen a lot of stuff in my life, but that was probably the most disturbing thing I’ve ever seen.”
The ordeal, which ended with the 31-year-old in handcuffs, began moments after the wheels left the ground in Savannah, Ga. Monday night when Augustin began wildly shaking and yelling when the plane hit some turbulence, leading some onboard to believe he was having a seizure, reports said.
Fellow passenger Rosenberg said he became concerned when Augustin began yelling about demons.
“He started stomping his feet violently, like heavily and screaming — it was kind of a chant,” he told CBS Miami. “He was talking about devils and possession. You have to kind of see it to believe it sort of thing.”
He kicked a flight attendant who went to check on him so hard in the chest they flew across the aisle of the plane and crashed into a window, according to an affidavit. After the kick, the pilot decided it was safest to take a Miami-bound plane back around to Savannah.
“He was being so violent, you were like, this is not normal, he doesn’t care anymore,” said Rosenberg.
Augustin also “destroyed” the seat in front of him punching and kicking it as they flew back, Rosenberg said.
Once they touched down in Savannah, Augustin immediately charged the plane’s front doors and just started swinging, as shown in the video. He was followed by his sister, who was also onboard.
Rosenberg and his friend jumped in and helped take Augustin to the ground. Once there, he grabbed onto his sister’s hair bun and pants and refused to let go as authorities arrived.
“They tazed him, once, twice, three times. He still didn’t let go. At that point, they had to cut the woman’s hair to make him let go,” he said.
He also swallowed the rosary — which his sister later told police was because the beads are “a weapon of strength in spiritual warfare.”
After the duo was detained, Augustin’s sister told authorities they were traveling to Haiti to “flee religious attacks of a spiritual nature,” according to the affidavit.
While on the flight, Augustin told his sister “to close her eyes and pray because Satan’s disciple(s) had followed them onto the plane and the legion did not want the Augustins to make it to Haiti,” the affidavit said.
Only about eight passengers were aboard the plane at the time of the outburst, and no one was seriously injured, according to police.
Augustin, who was hospitalized after swallowing the rosary beads, was later booked in jail on several charges, including misdemeanor battery and criminal property damage.
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