An Arizona woman has been sentenced to four months in prison for assaulting a TSA agent who confiscated her apple juice while she was undergoing a security screening, authorities announced.
Ma’Kiah Cherae Coleman, 20, was convicted earlier this year of assaulting and wounding a federal officer at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on April 25, 2023.
The Glendale resident snapped and punched the officer as they removed her juice at a security checkpoint shortly before 6 a.m., authorities said.
She then grabbed the agent by the hair, slammed his head into a baggage check area table and hit the victim in the head several times before being restrained by a swarm of other TSA agents.
Two officers were taken to the hospital for treatment during the scuffle and about 450 travelers were inconvenienced as officials closed the checkpoint to deal with the unruly traveler, the TSA said.
She was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes to four months behind bars plus 36 months of supervised release, officials announced on Wednesday.
“Coleman is prohibited from traveling on commercial aircraft during the three-year period of her judicial supervision,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
