Charges Dismissed Against Thanksgiving Stowaway Averell

B.J. Averell is now a free man. Two months after being arrested for sneaking onto a Delta Airlines flight, Delta and state prosecutors Wednesday agreed to drop all charges against him.

Last November 24, the Dunster House sophomore tried to board a Delta Express flight destined for Philadelphia. Though Averell had a ticket for the flight, airline officials told him that he had arrived at the Logan Airport gate too late and his seat had been given away to another passenger.

Averell whizzed past flight attendants, hopped over a metal security railing and boarded the plane anyway. He hid in the bathroom and was quickly discovered by flight attendants. Airport police arrested Averell for trespassing and disorderly conduct.

The story appeared on newspapers around the country and even merited a mention on NBC Nightly News.

Ralph S. Boyd, Averell's attorney, said that the decision to dismiss the case was jointly reached by Delta, the Suffolk County Distract Attorney's office and the Averell family.

"Everyone feels that this is not a young man that by any measure deserves have a criminal record," Boyd said.

The District Attorney's office declined immediate comment on the case.

Averell's case technically will not be dismissed until a year from last Wednesday. However, Boyd said the standing charges would only be relevant if Averell was charged with another crime over the next year.

"[The delay] is just a device that the court uses to make sure that someone who is charged who they are intending to dismiss the action does not get into any other trouble," Boyd said.

Averell said he was not surprised by the outcome of the incident.

"Because of the way Delta acted, we were not surprised that they didn't show up," Averell said.

Averell said he still stands by his original story--he claims that he arrived at the gate in time to board.

"[Averell] was there in time," Boyd said. "He should've been given a seat."

"They were in the wrong," Averell added.

Still, Boyd said this does not excuse Averell's actions.

"We certainly think he had a legitimate complaint, but you just can't take matters into your own hands," he said.

Although Averell escaped punishment, Boyd warned that most people who create disturbances at airports are not as lucky.

In general, Boyd said, airlines do not want to show leniency towards those charged with crimes at airports, for fear that others will fell that they could perform similar acts with little consequence.

"The airline and the authorities are sensitive about [the case] and fairly so," Boyd said. "It's very important to them that people understand they can't feel free to take matters in their own hands."

Boyd said that two other people faced charges similar to Averell's for their actions at Logan over Thanksgiving weekend. In these cases, the airlines have refused to show leniency.

Boyd said that Averell escaped punishment because of his non-violent behavior at the time of the incident.

"BJ was not belligerent to anyone; he were not threatening anyone," Boyd said. "[The other] incidents were more serious because they involved actual threats or destructive behavior."

Still, Boyd warned that people should not expect to be as lucky as Averell.

"If someone else were to do it today, they would probably be treated more harshly," Boyd said.

Averell, however, declined to pledge that he would not do the same thing again in similar circumstances.

"If I do it again, you won't be reading about it, because next time I'll do it right," he said.