Woman arrested for assaulting police officer at Las Vegas airport

A Chicago woman pressed her luck Monday at Las Vegas’ airport, ending up behind bars for allegedly assaulting a police officer after initially walking away with a citation for an earlier brush with the law, police said.

Patricia Medina, 48, was arrested Monday evening on one count of battery on a protected person after allegedly attacking a Metro officer at McCarran International Airport, Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Jay Rivera said. She was cited for battery and released earlier in the day after an apparent attack on a flight attendant in a separate incident, he said.

Medina’s day began with her being on board Southwest Airlines flight 1447, headed from Las Vegas to St. Louis, Missouri, when she requested to get off the flight after it had already left the gate, Rivera said. The plane returned to the gate where Medina then refused to exit the plane, Rivera said.

After eventually exiting the plane, Medina tried to re-board the plane, proceeding to punch, kick and bite a flight attendant, Rivera said.

Metro officers responded about 7:30 a.m., and Medina was cited for battery and released, police said.

Southwest acknowledged there was an incident, stating in an email that local law enforcement was requested to meet Flight 1447 prior to departing Las Vegas due to reports of an unruly customer. Southwest declined to further comment.

Medina returned to McCarran at approximately 7 p.m. Monday, where Rivera said she breached the A/B gates security checkpoint. A Metro officer tried to detain her for the breach, when she allegedly punched the officer, Rivera said.

Medina was arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center for the alleged gross misdemeanor.

Court records show Medina posted bail Monday and is scheduled back in court April 15.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.