Authorities are accusing a man of sexually assaulting a sleeping woman on a Spirit Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Detroit.
The alleged incident took place on a Wednesday Spirit Airlines flight from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus, Michigan, while the woman was asleep, according to federal court filings obtained by the Detroit Free Press.
The woman claimed she fell asleep on the plane and awoke “to a hand in her pants and noticed that her pants and shirt were unbuttoned,” according to the criminal complaint.
She added that the man shoved his fingers down her pants to her genitals and “vigorously” moved them before she woke up, the complaint states.
The woman told flight attendants, who said she appeared “visibly upset” while trying to explain what happened, according to the complaint.
Police arrested Prabhu Ramamoorthy as soon as the flight arrived at Detroit Metro Airport Wednesday morning on suspicion of aggravated sexual abuse.
The suspect initially told authorities that he had been asleep and did not know where his hand had been, but later told another investigator that he “might have” unhooked the woman’s bra and put his hands on her breasts over her shirt.
He allegedly told authorities that he partially unzipped her pants and unsuccessfully attempted to put his fingers down her pants, WJBK reports.
Ramamoorthy, who is from India, appeared Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Detroit for an arraignment hearing, WDIV reports.