Home of former JetBlue flight attendant burglarized while he was on court

Home of former JetBlue flight attendant burglarized while he was on court

2010-10-21 01:47:34 GMT+7 (ICT)

QUEENS, NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- The home of former JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater was burglarized while he was on court in relation to last August's incident at the John F. Kennedy Airport, authorities said on Wednesday.

The burglary was allegedly perpetrated by the brother of Slater's partner. The crime took place as the former flight attendant was in court pleading guilty to charges of criminal mischief.

Jonathan Rochelle, 39, a resident of the Belle Harbor section of Queens, was identified as the defendant and is currently awaiting arraignment on second-degree burglary and other charges. If convicted, he faces up to fifteen years of imprisonment.

"The defendant is accused basically of a crime of opportunity – brazenly breaking into his brother’s apartment in broad daylight when he knew that nobody would be home," Brown said.

Authorities said that Rochelle managed to enter the Belle Harbor apartment sometime between 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. local time. The defendant stole a laptop, a printer and a microwave from the residence that Slater shares with Ken Rochelle, Jonathan's brother.

Slater gained notoriety after he activated an emergency chute near the back of an airplane and jumped down the evacuation slide after running out of patience with a passenger. The incident raised controversy as some said that he should have been treated with more respect while others claimed his reckless actions could have provoked a bigger incident.

Jet Blue security has alleged that Slater caused damage to the emergency escape slide and caused a dangerous condition to the ground crew working below the aircraft as the emergency escape slide deploys at three thousand pounds of pressure per square inch and causes a risk of serious physical injury or death if it strikes people working under the aircraft.

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