Inset, left to right: The victim, identified in court records as “C.R.,” and the weapon used by Julio Alvarez Lopez (DOJ). Background: An Alaska Airlines plane (Alaska Airlines/YouTube).
A man accused of turning ordinary pens into a makeshift weapon could spend years in federal prison after admitting he attacked another passenger during a flight, later telling authorities he meant to stab the victim “in the eye to reach [his] brain and kill him.”
Julio Alvarez Lopez pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon in connection with the Jan. 24, 2024, incident on an Alaska Airlines flight traveling from Seattle to Las Vegas, federal officials said.
In a news release, the U.S. Department of Justice said Lopez punched, struck and repeatedly stabbed the victim using a homemade weapon made from “pens wrapped in rubber bands.”
The victim sustained stab wounds and injuries near the eye that required stitches. After the attack, Lopez moved toward the front of the plane, where passengers and crew members subdued him and kept him restrained until the aircraft landed.
According to the criminal complaint, the assault happened roughly 30 minutes before the flight arrived at Harry Reid International Airport. A passenger seated beside Lopez told investigators he had seemed “fidgety” during the trip, repeatedly putting on and removing gloves, digging through his backpack and avoiding eye contact.
Investigators said Lopez left his seat, returned briefly, then went into the airplane restroom. When he came back, he immediately began punching the passenger seated across the aisle.
“There was blood everywhere,” one witness told investigators, according to the complaint.
The victim”s wife screamed and attempted to shield the couple’s 7-year-old son during the assault, according to court documents. She was also struck by Lopez.
Another passenger reported seeing the defendant drop what appeared to be several pens bundled together before walking up the aisle shouting, “I’ll only talk to the FBI.”
The victim, identified in court records only by the initials C.R., was later identified as a sworn law enforcement officer. Witnesses said C.R. ordered Lopez to sit down before flight attendants secured him with flex cuffs until the aircraft landed safely in Las Vegas.
After waiving his Miranda rights, Lopez admitted he made the improvised weapon before boarding the flight and chose to attack C.R. because he believed the man was watching him in a harassing manner, prosecutors wrote.
During the interview with federal authorities, Lopez claimed “the Mafia had been chasing him the last few months” and believed C.R. was a cartel member following him.
“The defendant stated, ‘I planned on attacking and killing him,'” the complaint says.
Lopez also “admitted to the FBI agents that he was trying to stab C.R. in the eye to reach C.R.’s brain to kill him,” the document states.
Lopez, a Mexican national who was granted permanent resident status in 2018, is scheduled to appear in court again on Sept. 22 for his sentencing hearing.
