One day after a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors called for charges to be dismissed against a man who was removed from a U.S. Airways flight and arrested last month after he allegedly refused to pull up his sagging pants, the San Mateo County district attorney’s office has announced that charges against the man have been dropped.
Deshon Marman, 20, was arrested on suspicion of battery on a police officer, resisting arrest and trespassing on June 15 after boarding a flight from San Francisco to Albuquerque, N.M., where he is a student and football player at the University of New Mexico.
San Francisco police said Marman was instructed by airline crew members several times to pull up his pants to cover his underwear both before and after he boarded the plane.
He allegedly refused to do so, and eventually the plane’s captain told the other passengers to deplane, ordered Marman to leave the aircraft and then placed him under citizen’s arrest when he refused to exit, police said.
Marman was escorted off the plane by police and then allegedly resisted officers when they tried to arrest him. One officer suffered a cut to his hand and a sprained knee in the struggle, according to police.
On Tuesday, Supervisor Malia Cohen, whose district includes Hunters Point, where Marman grew up, called for “a policy of transparency” that “eliminates even the slightest suggestion that anyone can be indiscriminately taken off a plane.”
Cohen introduced a resolution at Tuesday’s board meeting calling for the case to be dismissed, for U.S. Airways to issue a formal apology to Marman, and for the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate the airline’s actions in the incident.
In a statement today, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said that Marman would not have to face any charges, saying:
“While we believe the officers on scene acted appropriately and professionally during the over one hour that they were in contact with Mr. Marman and repeatedly attempted to resolve the situation without difficulty, and while Mr. Marman could have quickly obviated the need for further intervention, we do not believe that criminal charges are warranted in light of all the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
In an interview with ABC7, Marman said that he was “ecstatic” on hearing that he would not be facing charges, saying that “It was all unfortunate what happened in the past. Once again, I do want to apologize to the members of Flight No. 488.”
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