Air marshals halt passenger on Seattle flight

By Seattle Times staff and wire services

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive

An ex-convict on a Honolulu-to-Seattle flight charged toward the cockpit, shouting that he wanted to see the pilot, and was subdued by undercover air marshals who were on board to monitor him, officials said.

The man was identified as Reno Maiava, 33, of Seattle. He was released from prison two years ago after serving 10 years for his role in a much publicized spree of beatings of gay men in Seattle in 1990.

The incident involving Maiava occurred about two hours into Thursday's Northwest Airlines Flight 924, according to Dave Adams, spokesman for the federal air-marshal service.

Adams described Maiava as having a history of violence and mental problems. A Department of Corrections spokesman in Olympia said Maiava had spent much of his prison term in a "special-needs" unit for people with mental-health problems.

Maiava was held pending arraignment on a charge of interfering with a flight crew.

Even before boarding the flight Maiava was disruptive, Adams said.

Maiava got up during the flight and knocked into an elderly woman, Adams said. He also screamed "Where's my shirt?" at one point, then charged toward the cockpit, shouting that he wanted to see the captain, the spokesman said.

Adams said a federal air marshal identified himself and told the 5-foot-11, 215-pound Maiava to put his hands behind his head. Maiava refused, and the other two marshals then identified themselves.

After a brief altercation, they handcuffed the man, Adams said.

Maiava was released from the Washington state Department of Corrections' Special Needs Unit in 2001, said Veltry Johnson, the department's spokesman. He remained under probation and was required to get permission to leave the state.

When Maiava told his probation officer he was taking a trip to Hawaii, the officer contacted air marshals and encouraged them to place agents aboard a Seattle-to-Honolulu flight that the man took Nov. 19, Adams said.

Because of concerns he could endanger people on his return flight, three marshals were assigned to it, he said.

A Northwest Airlines spokesman said the airline was not able to immediately comment on the incident.

Maiava was 21 and a member of a street gang when he was sentenced for the Veterans Day 1990 beatings of three men on Broadway. One of them, John Fasolo, suffered near-fatal head injuries.

The victims and witnesses said Maiava, along with Joseph Tomasi and Taumaoe Mose, singled out same-sex couples. Prosecutors said the men went to Broadway to target people "who they perceived to be gay."

The beatings, along with similar incidents around the same time, prompted police to beef up their presence on Capitol Hill and spurred the formation of the "Q Patrol," a neighborhood volunteer street-safety group.

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company