Two Chinese flight students shaken over experience with IASCO staff

Amber Sandhu | Redding

A second IASCO Flight Training student has come forward to say he was confronted in his home by the program's manager and told he'd be sent home to China immediately over what he says was a small infraction of rules.

Zhang Xun Yi, 24, shared his experience after the case of Tianshu Shi, the 21-year-old man Redding Police say was the victim of an attempted kidnapping by two employees of the school, became public.

Yi said the school grounded him about three weeks ago. He said he believes it was because he allowed a friend he has made in Redding into his home to use the restroom. A call to IASCO was not returned Saturday.

Meanwhile, Shi, who goes by Chris, shed more light about a confrontation Friday morning that he said led his family to contact Redding Police. Officers later arrested IASCO general manager Jonathan Lipton McConkey, 48, and his assistant, Kelsi Hoser, 50.

Audio recording sheds light on harrowing experience

During an exclusive interview with the Record Searchlight Saturday, Shi produced an audio recording he said he made in the early hours on Friday when McConkey and Hoser showed up at his home on Trudie Trail in Redding.

Shi played the audio on his smartphone for the Record Searchlight and allowed a reporter to record it. The three people heard on it — a man speaking loudly in English, a woman who speaks both English and Mandarin, and Shi — do not state their names during the recording. The details in their conversation fit with the statements police have made about the incident.

Redding police Sgt. Gary Meadows has been handling the investigation. He did not immediately respond to an email sent Saturday afternoon asking him to confirm whether investigators have a similar recording.

Both McConkey and Hoser were booked into Shasta County Jail on suspicion of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a crime. Late Friday, however, they were not listed in the jail's electronic custody roster.

Shi said he has no idea why he was supposed to be sent back to China.

Shi told police McConkey and Hoser battered him and forced him to leave the house to go back to China.

It all started about 11 p.m. on Thursday when Shi said he was visited by Hoser and McConkey and was told to have his things ready and packed to leave for the airport the next day at 6 a.m. He was never given a reason why, he said, and refused to leave.

“I said I didn’t receive any documents from China, so I decided not to go back,” he said. Shi said he enrolled in the program through Civil Aviation Flight University of China.

Shi said he didn't sleep all night and believed his roommates had been told to watch him.

What is on the profanity-laced recording

When McConkey and Hoser showed up at his home, Shi said he decided to record audio of the incident.

“You’re going home, with or without your luggage,” a male voice is heard saying.

A woman's voice is also clearly audible, speaking Mandarin to Shi.

Then, the woman raises her voice and switches to English, demanding that Shi do the same.

“If you cannot speak English, you are not going to be able to stay here,” the woman is heard saying.

Shi is heard faintly referencing the documents he says he hasn't received. The man replies that Shi is in his custody.

RAW AUDIO RECORDING: Alleged kidnapping involving IASCO flight school WARNING: This video contains graphic and disturbing language. The victim of an alleged kidnapping involving two IASCO Flight Training employees said he recorded audio of the confrontation.

“Do you understand what in my custody means? Do you understand? It means I will forcibly remove you,” The male voice says. “If you want the police to come with guns, I got you on that. Alright? You ass is leaving right now. Let’s (profanity) go.”

The man's voice is heard saying he has Shi’s passport.

“Boy, don’t (profanity) with me, do you understand?” the male voice says.

Shi asks if the man is threatening him.

“Your ass is getting on the plane right now or I’ll break your (profanity) arm. You better believe I’m (profanity) threatening you. And the United States government needs you out of this country right now, you understand?” the male voice says.

“You are here illegal, you know that. If you don’t go with us, you go to jail,” the female voice says.

“You’re going to jail if you don’t go with me,” the male voice adds.

Shi has been in the United States approximately seven months. He arrived on an M-1 visa, which is allotted to students who enroll in vocational programs. He said his visa is valid for one year, and his university paid approximately $70,000 for him to train at IASCO. But for the past two months, he’s been “grounded,” unable to fly or train.

He said he’s never had an issue with his flight skills, but suspects he was removed from training because of his English.

“I can’t speak English well in life, but I can speak English well with air traffic control,” he said.

During the confrontation with McConkey, Shi said the manager gripped his right arm and bent his left side over the kitchen island. Saturday morning, he said he was still experiencing pain in his right arm.

'It's ridiculous, they can't treat us like this'

Shi’s roommate, who spoke on condition that he not be named out of concern for his safety, said he witnessed the whole altercation.

“It’s ridiculous, they can’t treat us like this,” the roommate said. “They treated [Shi] like an animal, not a human being.”

Shi said he was unsure what he could and couldn't do. “I don’t know American laws,” he said.

Yi, who also goes by the name Max, said he also witnessed part of the exchange the morning before McConkey's arrest. At the time, he was waiting in a van he said was driven by Hoser.

“(McConkey) grabbed Chris’s arms and Chris tried to get away,” Yi said. “I saw that Chris was frightened at the time.”

Yi said he, too, had received a visit from the flight school director and assistant. McConkey and Hoser came to his house Thursday night around 11:40 p.m., he said.

Yi said he woke up to someone yelling his name from downstairs, and then McConkey came into his room and told him to get dressed. He said he was told in front of his six roommates that he was being sent home to China and had to be ready at 6 a.m. He said his roommates were told to stay awake and watch him.

“I was really scared at that time,” he said. “I don’t want to leave, I just do what they say.”

Since the alleged incident Friday morning, Yi said he doesn’t feel safe in his home. He said he believes he is being “supervised” by roommates and IASCO staff even though he’s been grounded for nearly a month.

Saturday morning, he went to the nearby Walmart, where he encountered a Redding police officer and spoke to him about the Friday incident. Not knowing his own rights, he asked police officers what he could do, and the officer handed him a pamphlet for the Victim’s Bill of Rights, Marsy’s Law.

Yi said he is baffled that all the students' passports were confiscated by flight school officials.

“All of us don’t have a passport,” he said. “I asked for it a couple of times. They didn’t give it to us.”

Yi said he is being sponsored through Xiamen Airlines, which paid more than $90,000 for him to attend IASCO flight school. But if he doesn’t finish school, he said, he and his parents, who are his co-signers, are on the hook to pay back the money.

But since Friday's incident, Shi believes the American legal system will work out for him. He said seeing Redding police officers respond to the airport within 10 minutes of his brother calling from Shanghai, China, was a relief.

“At that moment, police is my Jesus,” Shi said.

Shi said he plans on hiring an attorney, while Yi plans on calling on the Chinese Embassy for help.

Read more coverage:

More: IASCO Flight Training's new chapter

More: UPDATED: Two Redding flight school employees arrested, accused of kidnapping student

More: IASCO Flight Training director ready to chart new course