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Guy on Plane Decks Kid Who Wouldn't Turn Off Phone

The 68-year-old 'felt he was protecting the entire plane'

By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 29, 2010 11:18 AM CST | Updated Jan 2, 2011 10:56 AM CST

(Newser) – Next time the flight attendants ask you to turn off your cell phone before takeoff, you better do it … because if you don’t, the 68-year-old guy sitting next to you just might punch you. Russell Miller, accused of doing just that, was arrested upon landing last week and charged with misdemeanor battery. He got into a fight with a 15-year-old boy on a Southwest flight from Las Vegas to Boise, CNN reports, and allegedly smacked the kid on the shoulder when he refused to turn off his iPhone.

Fellow passengers say the boy was playing games and listening to music at the time, KBOI2 adds. Miller “felt he was protecting the entire plane and its occupants,” a police officer says. "He punched him so hard there was a mark on the teen's arm.”

In this photo taken Monday, Oct. 25, 2010, Joseph Erb demonstrates the iPhone  at the Cherokee Nation Immersion School in Tahlequah, Okla.,  Cherokee children are asking for iPods and iPhones for Christmas this year, and their parents are having a much tougher time saying no than one might expect.  Nearly...
In this photo taken Monday, Oct. 25, 2010, Joseph Erb demonstrates the iPhone at the Cherokee Nation Immersion School in Tahlequah, Okla., Cherokee children are asking for iPods and iPhones for Christmas...   (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
In this file photograph taken June 24, 2010, an Apple store employee displays a new Apple iPhone 4 in Miami Beach, Fla.
In this file photograph taken June 24, 2010, an Apple store employee displays a new Apple iPhone 4 in Miami Beach, Fla.   (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, file)
A kid found himself on the wrong end of a cranky old codger for not shutting his cell phone off.
A kid found himself on the wrong end of a cranky old codger for not shutting his cell phone off.   (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 141 comments
reasonator
Jan 2, 2011 2:04 PM CST
Having a phone on will not crash the plane or screw up the avionics. It's just a ridiculous over-precaution. It sounds like this 68-year-old man is more of a kid than the kid was who was playing games. He clearly doesn't like all this new-fangled technology that, and was obviously protecting the entire plane from this kid's cell phone. Give me a break.
scallywag
Jan 2, 2011 12:56 PM CST
Next time Russell some insolent kid rubs you the wrong way may we suggest you take out your record of criminal probation and we’re sure that will shut them right up. http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2010/12/air-passenger-arrested-for-punching-teenager-who-refused-to-turn-off-his-i-phone/
finkster
Jan 2, 2011 12:47 PM CST
"I'm tired of these Motha' Effin cell phones on this Motha' Effin plane!!!"

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