HOUSTON – A 34-year-old man who was a passenger on a JetBlue flight was taken into custody after he had prescription pills on him and tried passing some to another passenger who was sitting nearby, according to investigators.
Police were called to Hobby Airport to investigate a disturbance on board a JetBlue flight Tuesday evening. A JetBlue spokesman confirmed there was a disturbance on Flight 581 from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
Investigators said the other passenger was a kid and flight attendants saw what was going on.
"We could see some of the flight attendants conferring with each other," said Jake Martens, who was on board the same flight.
Martens said he knew something was going on when the plane landed but the crew wouldn't let anyone off.
"They asked us all to sit down and the next thing we knew they opened the doors, and I think three officers got onto the plane and lead (out) a man," said Martens.
Arresting officers said the man had Xanax and Ambien. The pills were in a prescription pill bottle, but didn't have the man's name on it. He didn't have a prescription and reportedly couldn't prove they belonged to him.
Police also said the man had taken some of the pills, had three to four cocktails during the flight and became intoxicated. He's been taken into custody and has now been charged with possession of a controlled substance.
The man's name has not been released.
Watch Local 2 News and stay with Click2Houston.com for updates on this story.