San Francisco [US], July 29 (ANI): Delta Air Lines pilot Rustom Bhagwagar, 34, was arrested Saturday night (local time) after his flight landed at San Francisco International Airport. He faces five counts of oral copulation with a child under the age of 10, following a three-month federal investigation, according to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office.
Federal agents and sheriff’s deputies stormed the cockpit of the Delta Airlines flight and arrested the co-pilot over the weekend, CBS News reported.
Flight 2809 arrived at San Francisco International Airport at approximately 9:35 p.m. on Saturday, when agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputies boarded the Boeing 757-300 jet and removed the co-pilot, authorities said.
The investigation began in April after the Sheriff’s Office received a report of sex crimes against a child. Detectives later identified Bhagwagar as a suspect and learned he was scheduled to fly into San Francisco that evening.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told CBS News Bay Area that HSI agents assisted deputies by providing access to the airport and aircraft.
Delta Air Lines stated it would defer comment to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office.
“Delta has zero tolerance for unlawful conduct and will fully cooperate with law enforcement,” a spokesperson said. “We are appalled by reports of the charges related to the arrest, and the individual in question has been suspended pending an investigation,” CBS News reported.
A passenger aboard the flight told CBS News Bay Area that the plane had just arrived at the gate when deputies and federal agents boarded through the door between the coach and first-class sections, pushing their way past passengers retrieving belongings from overhead bins.
Bhagwagar is currently being held at the Martinez Detention Facility on USD 5 million bail, the Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
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