SALT LAKE CITY – A woman was charged in Utah with misdemeanor criminal charges, after allegedly assaulting her minor son several times on a Jet Blue flight.
Klipfel, Cherice Dawn
According to a complaint filed in The United States District Court Utah Division, 46-year-old Cherice Klipfel was a ticketed passenger on Jet Blue flight 647 from Boston to Salt Lake City on Dec. 10.
The complaint stated that Klipfel was accompanied by her son, who was born in 2009. Klipfel sat in the center seat, while her son sat in the window seat.
According to the complaint, a witness, who was sitting next to Klipfel and her son, stated that she saw, “maybe a dozen episodes where Klipfel would strike, slap, or kick” her son, even aggressively shoving her him against the airplane window.
The witness reportedly stated Klipfel used her boot to shove her son against the window, and grabbed him by the neck and pushed him, while he pleaded for her to stop.
According to other witnesses from the flight, Klipfel also covered her son tightly with her coat while he was crying. Witnesses were so shaken by the scene, they immediately notified a flight attendant.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Salt Lake City Division investigated the incident, and concluded that Klipfel was not disciplining her son, but was committing assault.
