by A former CEO and president of a children’s services nonprofit that works with youth in Alaska is alleged to have assaulted a flight attendant because she broke her tray table.
Denis McCarville, 70, is a licensed clinical social worker and former leader of AK Child & Family.
When other passengers intervened in the middle of the confrontation, he said, “I am a Gold Medallion, I can do whatever I want. Fuck you,” reads a federal complaint, according to The Daily Beast.
He later told the FBI that “it would be very unusual for him to say … the ‘F’ word, since he is a social worker and does clinical work with children,” the document added.
Mr. McCarville took over as director of AK Child & Family in 2011 when it was called Alaska Children’s Services. Before taking office, he had been the CEO of several treatment centers in Omaha, Nebraska.
AK Child & Family states that it “brings hope into troubled young lives through a wide range of psychiatric services.”
The services are intended to help young people develop “self-esteem and the ability to live in harmony with others.”
Mr. McCarville met with Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski in Washington, DC in 2017 and said she was doing “something all Alaskans should be proud of, and I’m glad you had time to discuss issues.” important to improving the lives of Alaskan youth.
AK Child & Family claims that the work they do is “grounded in the spirit of Christ’s love.”
Mr. McCarville retired in December 2018. One of his blog posts on the nonprofit’s site is about “emotional intelligence.” the daily beast grades
The in-flight incident took place when Flight 2236 was on its five-hour trip from Minneapolis to Anchorage on January 29, according to the complaint.
Mr McCarville was sitting in an aisle seat, seat 12C, and became irate during the first drink service when asked if he wanted anything, complaining that he couldn’t get the tray off the armrest. The complainant is only identified in the document as “LC”.
The staff member told McCarville that he could move to the free middle seat, which had a work table.
“He was still very upset, so LC offered to give him SkyMiles for the inconvenience to which he replied that he didn’t want that, but he should ‘comp’ his entire flight ticket,” the complaint states. “LC responded… saying that she didn’t have the ability to do that, but that she could talk to Delta representatives once they landed to see what compensation they could give her. He was not happy with LC’s response to which she apologized and said that she couldn’t fix the tray table on her arm while she was on the air”.
LC began attending to the passenger in front of Mr. McCarville, who “hit” her on the left side.
“LC said he had struck her so hard that he nearly knocked her over on the aisle passenger in 12D,” the complaint states.
“That was not right, please don’t touch me again, let’s keep our hands to ourselves,” she told him, to which he replied, “very loud”, “f *** you”.
The complaint states that LC “claimed this is when other passengers got involved, including the window seat passenger in 12A” who told Mr McCarville “something to the effect” of “don’t talk to him like that and don’t put your hands on his”.
The flight attendant told Mr McCarville: “That’s not appropriate and you can’t just put your hands on me.”
It was at that moment that the former CEO mentioned the status of his flight with the airline and said that “I am a Gold Medallion, I can do whatever I want. For you”.
He then told the window passenger to “shut the fuck up” and that he was acting like a “jerk” and being inappropriate, according to the complaint.
LC then worked in a separate area of the plane, but then walked past a Mr. McCarville carrying coffee when she made eye contact and attempted to trip her “several times” without tripping any other crew members.
“LC stated near the end of the flight, the window seat passenger notified the flight crew in 12A, DM, that [Mr McCarville] he had refused to let him in to use the bathroom,” the complaint added. “DM told the flight crew that he almost urinated because of [Mr McCarville’s] behavior.”
The flight landed at Ted Stevens International Airport, where the Anchorage Airport Police Dispatch contacted the FBI’s Anchorage Field Office.
Authorities interviewed LC, Mr. McCarville, as well as other passengers and crew members.
LC noted that he remembered serving Mr. McCarville a drink, but he did not appear to be drunk.
“She reports that she has been a flight attendant at Delta for more than eight years and knows how kind of a touch it is when a passenger is trying to get her attention and when physically someone is really angry,” the complaint states. “She was very scared and no one ever touched her, pushed or poked her like [Mr McCarville] have done.”
Another crew member said she was “extremely uncomfortable” around him and was interrupted after “a couple of bourbons.”
McCarville denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
“He said a Delta employee told him before boarding that the plane was new; however, he was unable to remove his tray from the armrest,” the complaint states. “She Said, ‘I asked her to help me and she didn’t want to, so that was it.’ She said that she thinks that as she walked by, he “touched” her and asked if she could help him with that. She told him not to touch it, to which he replied ‘it’s fine’ and apologized to her.”
He added that he was surprised to see the police at the terminal.
“McCarville speculated that perhaps this had something to do with his job as a social worker and the agency he works with in Fairbanks,” the document says.
“He didn’t think this was due to the touch… When asked about witnesses who said he told the flight attendant to ‘shut up,’ he said he doesn’t use that language. He further said that it would be very weird if he said that or the ‘F’ word, since he is a social worker and does clinical work with children,” he added.
After his arrest, Mr. McCarville took a breathalyzer test at the Anchorage Correctional Center, registering 0.123, the legal limit being 0.08.
He has been charged with two felonies: interference with flight crew members and attendants and assault in the United States special aircraft jurisdiction. Court records indicate that he was ready to plead guilty in court.
the independent McCarville’s court-appointed attorney has been reached for comment.
