U.S. Skier, 18, Dismissed From Team for Urinating on 11-Year-Old Girl
An 18-year-old skier was recently dismissed from the U.S. Ski Team for urinating on a little girl onboard a Jetblue Airways flight.
The incident occurred mid-route on a red-eye flight from Portland, Ore., to the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York late Tuesday to Wednesday morning.
The man, identified as Robert “Sandy” Vietze from Warren, Vt., was stumbling towards one of the rear lavatories on the plane when he, apparently unable to make it to the bathroom, suddenly relieved himself on an 11-year-old girl who was sleeping five rows behind him, the New York Post first reported.
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The girl’s sister and father were in the lavatories themselves when the incident occurred, her father returning to catch Vietze mid-stream. The father began screaming and yelling, as flight attendants quickly worked to clean up the mess. The girl was reportedly a cancer patient.
Having drunk eight alcoholic beverages before boarding the flight headed towards the John F. Kennedy International Airport from Portland, Ore., an intoxicated Vietze reportedly did not know what he was doing until it was too late.
“I was drunk, and I did not realize I was [peeing] on her leg,” he told the Port Authority police, who were waiting for him upon landing on Wednesday morning.
He was immediately detained and given a federal summons for indecent exposure, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Brooklyn, and may even face up to one year in prison for his misconduct.
Vietze, a top alpine skier at the Green Mountain Valley School in Vermont, was set to compete in the 2011-2012 season on the national ski team’s developmental squad. A chance to ski in the 2014 Winter Olympics was also up in the air, but with the recent turn of events, he lost all of his privileges.
In an email to The Associated Press Friday morning, Luke Bodensteiner, the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) executive vice president of Athletics, revealed that the skier was dismissed from the team after having been found in violation of the USSA code of conduct and team agreement.
The conduct clearly states, “USSA members shall abstain from illegal and/or immoderate consumption of alcohol. Absolutely no consumption of alcohol is permitted for those individuals under the age of 21.”
It also highlights that members should avoid “disruptive behavior” and “conduct themselves at all times and in all places as befits worthy representatives of the United States of America, the United States Olympic Committee, USSA, their region, division, state or club.”
Not only did Vietze behave in an unfitting manner, but he was also underage.
Though federal prosecutors initially told the AP that charges would be dropped, Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office clarified that the case was still pending.
Vietze has not yet officially apologized for the event or spoken to the media. The only response so far has been from his mother who told the New York Post, “We have...nothing to say.”
