Queens woman karate-chopped Customs officer at JFK Airport after trying to enter secure area: feds
An airline passenger karate-chopped the neck of a Customs and Border Protection officer trying to keep her out of a prohibited zone at JFK Airport, the feds allege.
Emilia Mathias, 57, who law enforcement sources described as an unemployed home health aide coming home from Brazil, was told she couldn’t enter a secure area in Terminal 4 at the Queens airport on Aug. 22.
She refused to turn back and was caught on video chopping her arm down on the neck of an officer trying to escort her away, federal authorities allege.
Mathias, who lives in Queens, said she was tired after a long flight and was merely trying to get her luggage, according to a federal complaint accusing her of assaulting a federal official.
She said someone directed her to the secure area, and she “had wanted to defend herself and knew she had done a bad thing.”
She was ordered released on $1,000 bail after an arraignment in Brooklyn Federal Court on Monday. Under the conditions of her release, she must undergo a mental health evaluation.
Mathias’ lawyer, Marissa Sherman of the Federal Defenders, declined comment Monday, and attempts to reach Mathias were unsuccessful.
