An outfielder for the Kansas City Royals was hit with federal charges after becoming so “unruly and abusive” aboard a Delta flight earlier this month that he eventually had to be restrained with flexicuffs and multiple seat belts.
Darnel Collins is facing one count of interfering with a flight crew and one count of assault. He was identified as a Dutch national whose visa is currently sponsored by the Kansas City Baseball Corporation in a detention motion filed last Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear on Wednesday if he remained active for the Royals, with whom he inked a deal in 2021, but a team spokesperson told the Daily Mail that they hoped Collins “gets the care he needs.”
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The Daily Beast has reached out to the franchise for more information.
The outburst by Collins began less than an hour into the 10-hour flight from Amsterdam to Salt Lake City on Jan. 21, according to court records. An affidavit filed last Monday alleges that Collins quickly became “loud, disruptive, threatening and abusive to other passengers and to crew members.”
Bizarre behavior like tapping and following the other passengers around him escalated, with Collins grabbing a woman who emerged from the restroom. When he was moved to the back of the aircraft by flight crew, he “intentionally” spat on another passenger, “striking at least two persons with saliva,” according to the affidavit.
Collins then approached a flight attendant in the galley and said, “Hey B***h! Are you speaking up now?” as the affidavit puts it. He then returned to his seat, where he continued touching passengers as they walked by. At this point, flight crew physically restrained him with the flexicuffs, but even that didn’t stop him from unbuckling his seatbelt, standing up, and continuing to “cause problems.”
Eventually, three seat belt extenders connected together were wound “around his mid-section to keep him seated for the remainder of the flight”—approximately two hours, according to the affidavit.
“Many flight attendants reported feeling unsettled, and unsafe,” the affidavit’s author, a Federal Joint Terrorism Task Force officer, reported.
Collins faces a fine or six months in prison under the assault charge, while the maximum prison penalty for the interfering with flight crew charge is 20 years.
An arraignment is expected on Thursday.
