Man sentenced for assaulting KCI police officer after causing flight emergency
A California man who caused a cross-country flight to divert to Kansas City International Airport in 2022 was sentenced to serve two years in a Missouri prison for assaulting a police officer, the Platte County prosecutor’s office announced Tuesday.
Platte County Judge Ann Hansbrough on Monday sentenced 53-year-old Juan Remberto Rivas Jr. of Los Angeles to two years in prison for third-degree assault of a law enforcement officer and one year for attempting to escape while in custody, both felonies. The sentences are to be served concurrently.
Hansbrough credited Rivas with an unspecified amount of time served, but that does not include the time he has served for a federal charge.
In July, a federal judge in Kansas City sentenced Rivas to 19 months in federal prison without parole and ordered him to pay $64,434 in restitution to American Airlines. He pleaded guilty in January 2024 to one count of interfering with flight crew members and flight attendants.
The federal judge ordered the sentence to run concurrently with the Platte County case.
“After forcing a plane to make an emergency landing, this man assaulted a police officer,” said Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd, in a news release. “He’s dangerous, and he deserves to spend time in Missouri prison.”
Hit in the head with coffee pot
According to court documents, Rivas was a passenger aboard American Airlines flight 1775, traveling nonstop from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. in February 2022. While over Kansas, Rivas created a disturbance and became combative.
During the flight, Rivas went to the front of the plane, argued with a flight attendant, and tried to force his way into the cockpit. He also yanked the handle of an exit door and tried to break a miniature champagne bottle on a counter.
“Yeah, he’s trying to get in the cockpit,” the pilot told air traffic controllers while requesting permission to divert to KCI, according to audio captured at the time by LiveATC.net.
One of the flight attendants struck Rivas with a coffee pot, according to court documents. Rivas allegedly said he wanted to “bring down the plane.”
Passengers and flight attendants ultimately subdued Rivas with duct tape and zip ties until the diverted plane landed.
While officers were escorting Rivas to a patrol car, Rivas broke free when they attempted to adjust his handcuffs and assaulted a KCI Airport police officer. Rivas also allegedly tried to grab the officer’s handgun and said he was going to escape.
A Platte County jury found Rivas guilty during a three-day trial in mid-March.
Zahnd said Rivas will serve time in a Missouri prison after he completes his federal sentence.
