Source: Daily Breeze
Author: Doug Irving

A couple of lovebirds have been accused of getting a little too friendly in the friendly skies during a flight from Los Angeles, then bullying a flight attendant who told them to behave.

The two engaged in "overt sexual activity" in their seats on a Southwest Airlines flight to North Carolina, according to a federal indictment. They now face charges of interfering with a flight attendant, a crime that can carry a 20-year prison sentence.

Court documents describe Carl Warren Persing of Lakewood kissing and embracing his live-in girlfriend, Dawn Elizabeth Sewell, during the flight, then pressing his face into her lap. When a flight attendant told them to stop, Persing told him to "get out of my face" and later threatened a "serious confrontation," according to an FBI affidavit.

Persing's attorney, Bill Peregoy, said he intends to fight the charges in court. Persing, he said, had rested his head in his girlfriend's lap for a nap; he lost his patience and threatened to complain to the airline when the flight attendant repeatedly woke him.

The flight attendant, who is not named in the affidavit, twice asked the couple to stop. The second time, Persing told him, "I'm going to give you one warning to get out of my face," according to the affidavit.

But when asked if there had been any sexual contact between Persing and Sewell during the flight, Peregoy said: "I'm not going to go that far, because I wasn't on the plane."

The court documents give few details about the couple apart from their alleged behavior on the airplane. But Peregoy said both are "normal, run-of-the-mill" people, about 40 years old, with no serious criminal history. He said Persing works as a longshoreman.

Persing and Sewell first attracted the attention of other passengers on their Sept. 15 flight during a brief stop in Phoenix. They were sitting in the front rows of the plane, "embracing, kissing and acting in a manner that made other passengers uncomfortable," according to the affidavit signed by FBI special agent Michael Sutton.

Persing was "nuzzling or kissing" Sewell's neck and chest, then pressed his face into her lap, according to the affidavit. "During these actions," it notes, "Sewell was observed smiling."

The flight attendant, who is not named in the affidavit, twice asked the couple to stop. The second time, Persing told him, "I'm going to give you one warning to get out of my face," according to the affidavit.

Later, when the flight attendant refused to serve the couple alcohol, the affidavit quotes Persing telling him, "there is going to be a serious confrontation between you and me."

The FBI agent concluded that the behavior of Persing and Sewell "diverted and delayed" the flight attendant from his other duties on the plane. A federal grand jury indicted the couple last month, saying they "interfere(d) with the performance of the duties of an aircraft flight attendant and lessen(ed) the ability of the attendant to perform his duties."

The details of the case were first reported Tuesday by the Raleigh, N.C., News & Observer.

Peregoy, the attorney, suggested the flight attendant may have claimed intimidation because Persing had threatened to complain about him to his superiors. He said the FBI affidavit and the subsequent indictment appeared to be based only on interviews with flight attendants.

Peregoy described the flight attendant as "some fellow apparently objecting to ... contact on the airplane." He said he had witnesses who would testify about the attendant's "reprehensible" handling of the situation.

But a spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines said the flight attendant appeared to have reacted well to a bad situation. Such in-flight incidents are rare, spokeswoman Beth Harbin said, and it's up to the flight attendants to decide how best to respond.

In this case, she added, "customers were complaining to the flight crew" about Persing and Sewell.

Neither Persing nor Sewell could be reached for comment Tuesday. A woman who answered the phone at Persing's home and identified herself as his sister referred all questions to his attorney.

The couple's trial is scheduled to begin in February in a federal courthouse in North Carolina, court records show.