Man groped flight attendant and punched passenger, feds say. He’s prison-bound

A 40-year-old man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year in prison after punching a fellow passenger in the face on a flight from Denver to Portland, Oregon, according to a Nov. 7 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Yuriy Poplauskiy took a commercial flight from Denver to Portland in August 2019, and others on the flight saw him “exhibiting strange behavior, leading some to believe he was intoxicated,” according to the release.

With 25 minutes left in the flight, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native peered through a gap in the seats, saw a man sitting behind him and started mumbling, “When we land, I’ll see you at the airport,” according to the release. He then stood up and punched the man in the jaw.

After the incident, Poplauskiy rushed to the bathroom but eventually returned to his seat, according to officials.

Before the plane landed, the 40-year-old tried to start a fight with another passenger, according to the release. He is also accused of groping a male flight attendant.

Police were waiting for Poplauskiy at the gate and he was arrested, officials said.

In September 2019, a federal grand jury “returned an indictment charging the man with assault by striking” while on a plane, according to officials. He pleaded guilty.

Before his sentencing, the man violated his pre-trial conditions on six occasions, involving “two new criminal convictions for unlawfully possessing methamphetamine and eluding arrest in a motor vehicle,” officials said.

This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 1:47 PM with the headline "Man groped flight attendant and punched passenger, feds say. He’s prison-bound."