A woman’s tweets about a male passenger assaulting her as she boarded a flight are going viral, not least because they highlight just how difficult it is for women to press charges for assault.

Ariana Lenarsky was boarding a flight in Austin, Texas, when a dude sitting in the aisle seat “grabbed and stroked my calf” as she walked past him.

When she told the flight attendants what happened, it turned out they knew exactly who she was talking about, because he’d already done the same thing to other female passengers.

It was too late to kick him off the flight, so Lenarsky took to Twitter to talk about the incident and ask what she should do next.

It’s like a real-time Choose Your Own Adventure for how to deal with harassment. — Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016

Howzabout that in-flight WiFi, hey?

Lenarsky decided to ask the flight attendants what they were planning to do after the plane landed.

The answer: the flight attendants had already informed the captain, were filing a report to the airline, and had alerted authorities who would meet them upon arrival.

As it turned out, the same dude had attempted to kiss another woman mid-flight, and ended up being escorted off the plane by police.

Police took him off the plane. I’m still here & they’re taking my & another woman’s report. The legal term for how he grabbed me is battery. — Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016

Neither woman ended up pressing charges, because the requirements for them to do so made the process extremely difficult.



In Lenarsky’s case, the incident fell under the Austin Police Department‘s jurisdiction, meaning she’d have to fly back to Austin at her own expense just to report it. In the other woman’s case, the FBI would have to get involved because the incident happened in the sky, and she didn’t want to go through that process.

To add salt to the wound, the police then told Lenarsky that while they’d give the man “a talking to”, it was not, after all, “the crime of the century”.

“True!” tweeted Lenarsky in response. “I’m going to tweet his picture now since it’s NBD.”



You can’t grab women on a plane, guy. You can’t do it. Hope you get the help you need. pic.twitter.com/5A5nGqdx87 — Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016

Lenarsky didn’t reveal which airline she flew with, so we can’t include a statement from them about the incident, but you can read Lenarsky’s entire account of what happened below:

Some guy grabbed & stroked my calf (??) as I walked by on the plane, so I took his picture. Not gonna post it, but I hope he’s freaked out. — Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016

I just told the flight attendants, and they both nodded. They already knew who it was, because other women already complained. Lol. — Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016

Anyway. We don’t land for an hour and a half. Anything else I need to do here? Tag the airline? Tweet the photo? — Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016

It’s like a real-time Choose Your Own Adventure for how to deal with harassment. — Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016

I am now going to ask the flight attendants what they plan to do when we land. — Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016

They told the captain and are filing a report with the airline. Local authorities will meet the plane when we land. — Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016

I feel depressed. — Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016

Police took him off the plane. I’m still here & they’re taking my & another woman’s report. The legal term for how he grabbed me is battery. — Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016

He tried to kiss the other woman. She doesn’t want to press charges bc since it happened in the sky, the FBI would have to get involved. — Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016

If I want to press charges, I’d have to fly back to Austin on my dime, since it’s Austin PD’s jurisdiction. I don’t want to do that. — Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016

Police said they would “give him a talking to”& “it’s not the crime of the century.” True! I’m going to tweet his picture now since it’s nbd — Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016

You can’t grab women on a plane, guy. You can’t do it. Hope you get the help you need. pic.twitter.com/5A5nGqdx87 — Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016

Photo: Twitter / Ariana Lenarsky.

