JetBlue passenger held a razor blade to the neck of woman next to him while she was watching a movie, prosecutors say
A man held a razor blade against a woman's throat on a JetBlue flight on Tuesday, prosecutors say
The man allegedly told the woman to stop her movie whole holding the knife up to her.
He was charged with Carrying a Weapon on an Aircraft and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon.
A JetBlue passenger held a straight-edge razor against a woman's throat during a flight on Monday, federal prosecutors said.
Merrill Darrell Fackrell, 41, was charged with with assault after the flight, from JFK in New York to Utah's Salt Lake City International Airport.
He was also charged with carrying a weapon on a plane, per a press release from the Department of Justice.
The DOJ said Fackrell held the razor to the woman's throat while she was watching a movie. It said the blade was one or two inches long.
Its account said he was sitting next to her, pur his hand in front of the screen and told her to pause her movie.
She took off her headphones and realized he was holding a blade "inches from her skin at her throat/neck area,"per the DOJ release.
Officials said the woman's husband was also sitting in the same row, and went to the front of the plane to get help.
The woman then "lunged for the aisle to escape" and the man "tried to stop her by grabbing her shoulder," the press release said.
JetBlue did not immediately reply to Insider's request for comment.
Various federal agencies were investigating how he was able to get the razor on the plane, The New York Times reported.
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