Welp, the 67-year-old Arizona real estate agent found out the hard way that actions have consequences. Arthur Layne Lundeen lost his job at Tucson based Long Realty after he allegedly went on a racist and homophobic rampage aboard an American Airlines flight, forcing fellow passengers to duct-tape and zip-tie him to his own seat just to keep everyone safe.
“Long Realty is aware of reports concerning criminal charges filed against a former affiliated real estate agent arising from an incident that allegedly occurred during a commercial flight,” Long Realty wrote in a statement on Facebook Sunday.
“Upon learning of the incident, Long Realty promptly ended its affiliation with the individual. The individual is no longer associated with or authorized to represent Long Realty in any capacity. The company added, “The conduct described in the reports is wholly inconsistent with the professionalism, integrity, compassion, and respect for others that Long Realty expects from those affiliated with the company.”
As we previously reported, the chaos went down on September 3rd during American Airlines Flight 618, headed from Dallas-Fort Worth to Newark. Witnesses say Lundeen appeared to be drunk when he started acting up toward the end of the flight. Things escalated fast. According to sources who spoke with TMZ, Lundeen allegedly hurled the N-word at a Black flight attendant and threw anti-gay slurs at other passengers before physically attacking the person sitting next to him and hitting a woman who tried to step in and help.
That’s when two brave passengers, identified as Richard O’Lenick and a man named Mejia, a retired police officer, jumped into action. With Lundeen biting, kicking, and swinging, the men made the call to restrain him using zip ties and duct tape, wrapping it around his chest, arms, hands, and head to stop him from hurting anyone else. O’Lenick, who ended up covered in blood from the struggle, later said he was proud of how the situation was handled without anyone getting seriously hurt.
Photos from inside the cabin show Lundeen taped up head to toe like something out of a movie, sitting there with his wrists bound while the flight made an emergency diversion to Baltimore. Once the plane landed, Maryland Transportation Authority Police were waiting and took Lundeen straight into custody. He’s now facing state charges of second-degree assault and disorderly conduct, and the FBI says it’s working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland to figure out if federal charges are coming next.
This wasn’t some random one-off moment of losing your temper. This was a grown man, a licensed professional supposedly trusted to help families buy and sell homes, showing his true colors at 30,000 feet with nowhere to hide. And once that video and those photos hit the internet, there was no covering it up. His employer saw exactly who he was and cut him loose immediately.
Lundeen’s case is still working its way through the courts, but his career at Long Realty is already finished.