Former NFL Player Arrested After Allegedly Urinating on Elderly Woman During Delta Flight: Police

A former NFL player has been arrested due to bad behavior on a recent flight, which allegedly included urinating on an elderly woman and drunkenly hitting a man.

Former Detroit Lions defensive tackle Gosder Cherilus was detained on charges of disorderly conduct and disturbing a flight crew after his actions caused the Delta Airlines flight he was on to be redirected back to Boston, Massachusetts State Police told PEOPLE in a statement.

Police said they responded to a report “of an unruly passenger who urinated on another passenger on board” at Boston Logan International Airport at around 2 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 18.

When the plane returned to Boston, state police troopers and border patrol personnel identified Cherilus, 40, as the unruly passenger and noted that he “became irate and uncooperative” when the troopers tried to get him to exit the plane.

He “refused verbal commands and was being argumentative” and also made it difficult for police to handcuff him, police said, per the Boston Herald. He pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

“He began clenching his fist and refusing to put his hands behind his back,” police said, per the outlet. “Due to his large size, myself and Sergeant Papkee used two sets of handcuffs to restrain him.”

While Cherilus has since apologized for the incident on social media, the former football player, who also played for the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, pleaded not guilty in East Boston District Court on Monday, Aug. 19, according to NBC Boston.

Separate court documents obtained by NBC News and ESPN alleged that during the flight, he appeared drunk when he boarded the plane and complained about his seat assignment.

Cherilus then allegedly approached a 78-year-old Maine woman near his assigned seat and “fully exposed his genitals and began urinating on an elderly female,” per the documents obtained by the outlets. He then allegedly confronted a 68-year-old Utah man in seat 3D and “began arguing over the seat” and “struck him with his right hand,” before passing out in a seat.

Due to his behavior, the “entire flight experienced extreme shock, alarm and were in fear for their safety,” NBC News reported.

Delta Airlines did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Cherilus issued a statement on Instagram after the incident, saying that he took a “sleeping medication” after his flight was “unexpectedly delayed for four hours” and set to take off “until after 12:30AM.”

“In preparation for the unexpected overnight flight I took a sleeping medication that I don’t normally use, which resulted in behavior that is not representative of my character and I would like to apologize to the passengers and flight crew,” he said.

Cherilus’ next court hearing is scheduled for October, according to NBC Boston.