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A chameleon enthusiast from Southern California drank an entire bottle of Prosecco during the first half of a cross-country flight, then allegedly slapped a flight attendant’s rear end before pulling down his pants and underwear and exposing his genitalia – twice – to another member of the cabin crew.
When police later questioned 49-year-old Dennis Wally Woodbury about his behavior aboard the JetBlue plane, which included asking a young girl walking in the aisle “if her parents made her out of lust or love,” he claimed the two flight attendants had in fact “solicited” him, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by The Independent.
Woodbury was arrested after the April 13 flight landed in Los Angeles.
“This is all your fault because you didn’t go to the bathroom with me,” Woodbury shouted at one of the crewmembers as he was led off the aircraft by police, states the affidavit, which was filed April 14 in Los Angeles federal court.
He was later released on a $50,000 appearance bond partially guaranteed by his sister, a South Carolina firefighter, records show.
The phone number Woodbury listed in his pretrial release package links him to numerous posts on an online message board for hobbyist chameleon keepers, where the Los Angeles-area resident has been involved in multiple discussions about breeding and caring for the color-changing reptiles.
Woodbury did not respond on Sunday to voicemails and texts seeking comment. Email messages sent over the weekend to Woodbury’s public defender, as well as a JetBlue spokesperson, went unanswered.
As JetBlue flight 201 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to LAX waited out an hour-long delay due to mechanical issues, Woodbury, who was seated in the first row of Mint Class, the carrier’s version of first class, began drinking Prosecco to while away the time, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Before the aircraft pushed back from the gate, Woodbury struck up a conversation with a flight attendant identified in the affidavit by the initials “R.O.,” and showed him a picture of a dog, the affidavit says. Behind the dog, the affidavit continues, was “a blurred image of what appeared to be two men having sex.”
“R.O. responded by saying, ‘Oh my God,’” the affidavit goes on. “Woodbury laughed and said, ‘I was wondering how long it would take you.’ Woodbury then told R.O. that he should go on a cruise with him.
Woodbury’s username on the message board for chameleon lovers connects him to a review site for cruise fans. One 2021 post under Woodbury’s handle lauded the food aboard a Virgin Voyages ship, but decried the shortcomings of the available beverage packages.
Once the plane got moving, R.O. conducted the pre-flight safety briefing, the affidavit states. It continues that when R.O. began demonstrating how the plane’s oxygen masks worked, he saw Woodbury “looking at him and [making] a hand pumping motion.”
Woodbury drained the entire 750ml bottle of Prosecco within three hours, according to the affidavit. The lead flight attendant, who is identified in the affidavit as “J.C.,” observed Woodbury “slurring his words and rambling.”
Woodbury was asleep by the time meal service began, but J.C. woke him up because he “believed that [he] needed to eat to help absorb the alcohol he had drank,” the affidavit states. Following the meal, while collecting trays, it says J.C. walked past Woodbury, who “used his left hand to slap J.C.’s buttocks and yelled, ‘I love you.’”
“R.O. said he could hear the slap to J.C.’s buttocks,” according to the affidavit.
J.C. walked to the rear of the cabin to inform the rest of the crew about Woodbury’s antics, the affidavit says. At the same time, Woodbury approached R.O. in the plane’s front galley “and pulled down his pants exposing the head of his erect penis,” according to the affidavit.
It says R.O. told Woodbury, “This is not the place to do that.” Woodbury walked away but quickly circled back, asking R.O. for a glass of wine, the affidavit states. R.O. said no, but that he would serve Woodbury a non-alcoholic drink.
“Woodbury then pulled down his pants a second time[,] exposing the head of his erect penis,” the affidavit contends. “R.O. told Woodbury, ‘Enough. Go back to your seat.’”
This time, Woodbury did as he was told, according to the affidavit. When R.O. told J.C. what had occurred, J.C. told R.O. to work in a different section of the plane for the rest of the flight so he could avoid Woodbury, the affidavit says. Woodbury then went back to sleep for the remainder of the six-hour flight.
J.C. then “issued Woodbury a JetBlue notice to cease objectionable and illegal behavior,” and placed it on Woodbury’s lap, according to the affidavit.
Upon arrival at LAX, officers with the Los Angeles Airport Police escorted Woodbury off the plane as he tried to lay blame on J.C. about his refusal to “go to the bathroom” with him, the affidavit states.
The cops called in the FBI, which has jurisdiction over incidents in the air, and a task force agent read Woodbury his rights. The affidavit says Woodbury interrupted her midway, telling the agent he understood his rights and that he didn’t need to hear them again.
The agent asked Woodbury if he wanted to talk to her, according to the affidavit.
“Woodbury said he did not, but then added that the flight attendant solicited him to go to the bathroom but he told him no,” the affidavit says. “Woodbury did not define what soliciting meant to him,” the affidavit added.
Woodbury was arrested and charged with abusive sexual contact within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
Before letting him go, a judge instructed Woodbury to turn in his passport, forbade him from drinking, and ordered him to a residential alcohol treatment program. He is due in court for a preliminary conference on May 6.
In the first four months of 2025, the Federal Aviation Administration has so far fielded nearly 500 reports of unruly passengers. Last year, the agency received 2,102 unruly passenger complaints, down from an all-time high of 5,973 in 2021.
If convicted, Woodbury faces up to two years in prison.
English (US) ·