Hiram Sanchez, Drunk LAX Traveler, Reportedly Tries to Take Down Customs Officers in 'Last Hurrah' Before Rehab

By Simone Wilson Fri., Apr. 13 2012 at 9:35 AM

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Sanchez had allegedly taken four shots on his Emirates flight from Dubai.

Morning, kids! Here's what not to do when Customs and Border Protection asks to see your passport at LAX.

Early on Tuesday, an L.A. County man who had been traveling abroad for almost a year -- but who was returning to California for rehab -- tried to take down two CBP officers when they asked for identification, FBI officials tell the Daily Breeze.

The officers reportedly spotted 46-year-old Hiram Sanchez...

... stumbling through the Customs inspection area around 8:20 a.m., "laughing and talking to himself" like a drunktard wishing for detainment.

So naturally, two Customs officers asked for his passport, and -- when he refused to show it -- tried to haul him off to secondary inspection.

But Sanchez wasn't going down without a fight, reports the Breeze:

During the struggle, Sanchez reportedly told the officers "I'll take you out," and that he could "take them on," according to the affidavit.
Sanchez later admitted to investigators that he had four shots of alcohol during the flight and did not remember the altercation, [FBI Special Agent David Gates] said. He had spent the past 10 months in Nepal and India, but was returning to California to undergo treatment for alcoholism.

Sanchez told authorities that the drinks were his "last hurrah," Gates said.

If this slapstick scene wasn't quite Three Stooges enough for you yet, you'll be happy to know that the two CBP officers who Sachez tried to "take on" were named Michael Bird and Michael Beard. (The former came away with a one-inch cut on his hand, and the latter a minor knee injury, according to the Breeze.)

So Sanchez was arrested for assault before he could even make it through the first day of rehab. A good one for the grandkids though, right?

The only mystery remaining is how on Earth this guy, reportedly a former handyman in southern L.A. County, managed to down four shots on his flight from Dubai. Note to self: Emirates airlines, all the way.

[@simone_electra / swilson@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

assaults, CBP, Customs, drunk in public, Hiram Sanchez, LAX, rehab

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Concernedneighbor

Um - the flight from Dubai is over 16 hours long and drinks are free on international flights...how could he not drink 4 shots on the flight back?

SpecialAV

Let's take a look at the entire operation. If he was stumbling, laughing and talking to himself then there is a high probability he was like that at the end of his flight on Emarites. Yes you can drink on Emarites but every cabin and flight crew must be aware and sensitive to potential in appropriate actions by those who can't hold their 4 drinks or how many more he had. {Since he didn't recall his action it would be safe to assume that he didn't correctly recall how many drinks he had. [stupid is as stupid does.]

Conclusion, he was drunk in flight. Now we have a drunk passenger that the cabin or flight crew should have handled during the flight and subsequently alerted the authorities on the ground. But they didn't.

The FBI and FAA's next steps should be to contact the captain and crew and find out what happened and why they did not act in the best interest of the passengers on board or the destination terminal and contact security at LAX in advance of arrival. This is a serious breech of protocol for the flight and cabin crew and must not be taken lightly.

If the flight and cabin crew refuse to be interviewed they must be banned from further flights into the US. If you can't trust people the first time to do their job then you can't trust them anytime.

One of the flight and cabin crews obligations after passenger safety is to keep our skies and our airport terminal safe.

Former international aviation specialist.