Passengers On United Flight Restrain Grabby, Belligerent Man

A man was restrained by passengers on a United flight Tuesday after allegedly harassing his fellow fliers and attempting to grab a woman and forcing her to kiss him.

On a flight from Chicago to Santa Ana, California, a man identified by the FBI as 26-year-old actor-model Arash Durrani was taken into custody after reportedly forcing himself on female passenger Nona Pitts. She told NBC4 in Southern California that Durrani sat across from her on United Airlines Flight 473 and that she asked him if he was “on anything” because he was acting strangely.

“He was kind of slurring his words,” Pitts said. “He just goes, ‘Why, you want some?’ ”

“The stewardess came by and he said, ‘I want another (Jack Daniels),’ ” Pitts said. She told the flight attendant that Durrani appeared intoxicated,but he was given “two more bottles of J.D.” anyway.

Pitts moved to another seat, but Durrani followed her. “He grabs my hair and he goes, ‘Nona, Nona, Nona, kiss me,'” she said. Durrani started pacing and scaring children on the plane, prompting passenger David Truong and other passengers to intervene, physically restraining him with belts. “He looked at every one of us and said, ‘I’m going to kill you and your entire family,’ ” Truong said.

Durrani was restrained for nearly three hours. He will be charged with a federal offense for interference with a flight crew, according to FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

Here’s a video report on the incident:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy