Florida man arrested after urinating on floor of plane at airport, police say

Dante Bencivenga refuses to leave, asks for breath test to prove he's not drunk

Police say Dante Bencivenga refused to leave Southwest Florida International Airport after Spirit Airlines claimed he urinated on the floor of a plane at the gate.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A Florida man was arrested Thursday after he urinated on the bathroom floor of an airplane at Southwest Florida International Airport while intoxicated, police said.

Dante Bencivenga, 58, of Fort Myers, was on a Spirit Airlines flight when he was asked to get off the plane shortly after boarding, according to a Lee County Port Authority police report.

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The gate agent told police that Bencivenga "was nodding off and he smelled like alcohol" about two hours before boarding began.

Once the boarding process was complete, the gate agent received a call from a flight attendant who told him that Bencivenga "urinated all over the toilet and carpet on the plane."

The gate agent called police after Bencivenga "became belligerent and began to curse at him."

When police arrived, Bencivenga told the gate agent to "stop telling lies." Police said Bencivenga smelled of alcohol.

"Bencivenga said he wanted to file a complaint on Spirit Airlines for accusing him of being drunk and he demanded a breath test to prove his case," the report said.

Police said after Spirit booked him on a new flight for the next day, Bencivenga started to raise his voice and curse at the gate agents. Despite being asked to leave the concourse or risk being arrested, Bencivenga refused, instead putting his hands behind his back and telling police, "I'm not leaving." Bencivenga then told police to "put the bracelets on me."

Bencivenga was arrested on charges of trespassing and disorderly intoxication. He was also issued a trespass warning and told not to return to the airport, unless he had official business there, for a year.