Crime & Safety

Ex-San Mateo Cop Describes Struggle on Plane

SMPD applauds actions of San Mateo resident and retired police Officer Larry Wright, who helped restrain a man who tried to force his way into the cockpit.

San Mateo police lauded a retired officer from their ranks who helped of a San Francisco-bound American Airlines flight on Sunday.

Larry Wright, 54, of San Mateo, said that about 30 minutes before the flight was to land at SFO he heard a scream behind him and saw the suspect, 28-year-old Rageh al-Murisi, run past him saying “Allahu Akbar.”

Wright got up and followed al-Murisi to the front of the plane, where crewmembers and other passengers had brought him to the ground. Wright’s adrenaline and police training instincts kicked in almost immediately, he said, as he put al-Murisi in a control hold and threaded flex cuffs supplied by crew members around his wrists and ankles.

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About four or five people assisted him. At first, his hands slipped off al-Murisi because the suspect’s skin was so clammy, Wright said.

He said he quickly began to worry about the possibility of explosives or an accomplice, and decided it was best to keep al-Murisi at the front of the plane in case he was in possession of a contamination agent.

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“We also didn’t want to move the suspect because it would divide resources,” he said.

He used his belt to tie the wrist cuffs to the ankle cuffs, and then put al-Murisi on the ground in the first row and sat on him for the remainder of the flight. He said al-Murisi kept repeating “Allahu Akbar” – which means “God is great” – as he was held down but did not say anything to him directly.

In a statement, San Mateo police Chief Susan Manheimer said: “I am very proud of Larry Wright’s heroic actions as well as the heroic actions of American Airlines personnel and other passengers for their assistance during this extremely intense situation aboard an in-flight airplane.”

The suspect was turned over to SFO authorities once the plane landed.

‘Isolated Incident’

Wright said he had the impression that al-Murisi’s actions were not spontaneous. “My opinion at the time was that he had thought about it,” said Wright, who was a police officer for 27 years before he retired four years ago with a back injury.

He now works as an investigator for an insurance company. Although Wright was more focused on al-Murisi than the other passengers, he said most seemed to have stayed calm throughout the ordeal.

One girl appeared to be in shock, he said. He said he was too focused on subduing al-Murisi to be afraid, and had decided after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks what he would do if he were ever in a similar situation.

“I swore to myself that I would never be a victim,” he said. It wasn’t until about an hour after San Francisco police had taken al-Murisi into custody that Wright finally started to relax, he said, adding that he would not hesitate to get back on a plane.

“This was an isolated incident,” he said.

Suspect in Court

Al-Murisi was called a “significant threat” by a federal prosecutor at his first appearance in U.S. District Court this week.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elise Becker asked U.S. Magistrate James Larson at the hearing in San Francisco on Tuesday to order al-Murisi held in custody without bail while awaiting trial.

Larson scheduled a detention hearing for Friday to consider the prosecution’s request. Al-Murisi’s lawyer, Assistant Federal Public Defender Elizabeth Falk, said she will ask for bail and will talk to al-Murisi’s relatives in Vallejo to determine whether they can post a bond.

Al-Murisi was charged in a federal criminal complaint on Monday with interfering with crewmembers on the flight, which was headed from Chicago to SFO.

An affidavit filed with the complaint states that al-Murisi left his seat in the rear of the plane, headed through first class and tried to open the locked cockpit door by moving the door handles. The chief flight attendant initially thought al-Murisi was looking for the restroom and twice told him it was on the left.

But al-Murisi then made eye contact with the attendant and began ramming the door with his shoulder, the affidavit said. After the flight attendant called for help, al-Murisi was subdued and placed in plastic handcuffs by flight attendants and passengers, including Wright and a retired U.S. Secret Service officer.

Becker, in asking Larson for custody without bail, mentioned that al-Murisi had said “Allahu Akbar” as he moved toward the cockpit door. She said an al-Qaida terrorist who participated in the hijacking of Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001, was heard on a voice recorder to have said the same phrase as the plane plummeted to a field in Pennsylvania.

Becker said al-Murisi had no luggage and was carrying two checks totaling $13,000 on the flight. She said that al-Murisi, who holds a Yemeni passport, had identification showing addresses in New York City and Vallejo.

Outside of court, relatives said al-Murisi had been a math teacher in Yemen and had lived in Vallejo for a time before moving to New York. Ahmed Almoraissi, 25, of Vallejo, who said he is a cousin, called him a “normal guy.”

“He has no intention of hurting anyone. It doesn’t make sense,” the cousin said.

Yesterday’s court session was al-Murisi’s initial appearance, at which he was informed of the charges against him. The crime of interfering with flight crew members and attendants carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Distinguished Service

According to the San Mateo Police Department, Wright served “with distinction as a member of the San Mateo Police Department for 26 years before retiring in 2007.”

Police listed some of Wright’s career accomplishments, including:

  • In January 1985, he was nominated for the National Auto Theft and Department of Motor vehicle 10851 Award for his ability to detect stolen cars.
  • In July 1985, the California Highway Patrol awarded him the California 10851 Award for his outstanding achievements in vehicle theft recoveries.
  • In May 1986, he was appointed as a K-9 handler, resulting in “many successful narcotic and burglar detections.”
  • In 1996, he was appointed to the detective bureau and assigned to fraud cases.
  • In 2001, he began supporting the San Mateo Police Activities League (PAL) through “numerous programs, including deep-sea fishing, rodeo, indoor rock climbing and certified coordinator for the ROPES course. Larry was instrumental in arranging scholarships for 18 PAL kids to attend the Science and Nature Adventures for Kid Explorers Camp in Palo Alto.”

-- Staff Reports


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