A former Detroit Lions first-round pick is accused of peeing on another passenger in the middle of a Delta flight.
Gosder Cherilus, who was selected by the Lions at No. 17 overall in the draft in 2008, has been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct in Massachusetts, police said.
Cherilus, 40, is accused of hitting a man and urinating on another while drunk on a Sunday night Delta Air Lines flight from Boston to Dublin.
The Associated Press reports the flight returned to Logan International Airport, where Massachusetts state troopers told Cherilus to leave the plane. He got angry and refused to cooperate, according to the report.
Police said Cherilus was drunk when he boarded the plane and argued with the flight crew about his seat.
One hour into the flight, he urinated on an “elderly passenger” and then hit another person who took that passenger’s seat, according to the AP report.
Cherilus then passed out, police said.
Delta Air Lines confirmed in a statement to the AP that there had been an “unruly” passenger on the flight and that everyone else had later been flown to Dublin.
Cherilus spent five seasons as the right tackle in Detroit from 2008-2012 before going to Indianapolis. He was with the Colts for two years and then spent two more with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before retiring.
He posted a statement on Instagram, explaining his side of the story.
“I’d like to address the media reports about me that surfaced today regarding a situation that occurred onboard a flight to Ireland this past weekend,” he wrote Monday. “The flight was unexpectedly delayed for approximately four hours, and it did not take off until after 12:30 a.m. In preparation for the unexpected overnight flight, I took a sleeping medication that I don’t normally use, which resulted in behavior that is not representative of my character, and I would like to apologize to the passengers and flight crew.”
