Police Report: Southwest flight Orlando to Phoenix

An assault on a Southwest Airlines flight to Phoenix finally shows up via police report.

On a Southwest Airlines flight from Orlando to Phoenix last September, a man allegedly assaulted a woman sitting behind him. He apparently slammed his seat back multiple times while she was sleeping with her head on the tray table and according to the police report, she was knocked out for roughly 10 minutes.

It took nearly nine months to receive the report from Phoenix PD.

When the above thread went viral on Twitter, many people thought the suspect looked like a certain former director of Arizona DPS.

The man is not Frank Milstead. His name is Steven Uhlmer and he’s a resident of Orlando Florida, according to the police report.

Here’s what apparently happened:

One witness, who sat next to the victim, told police immediately after the flight that she thought the incident was “intentional” and is “willing to testify in court if necessary.”

“Shortly after the flight took off he looked back before "forcibly" moving his chair back striking Saarah [the victim] who was resting her head on the tray located on the back of Steven's chair. Gabriela [the witness] advised she confronted him about the incident and he called her an "f'ing bitch" and “you need to mind your own business.” He then told her it was his seat and "no one asked for your f'ing opinion." She said Steven began having a "tantrum" and kept moving his seat forward and back erratically immediately after the incident. Gabriela said Saarah had been "hit very hard" and required an ice pack for her head. Gabriela advised as a result of the incident Saarah had difficulty hearing and was very disoriented. Gabriela was concerned she might have a concussion. Gabriela stated she advised Saarah she probably needed to seek medical attention when they landed,” the police report states.

Uhlmer’s statement to police immediately after exiting the plane shows he didn’t think he did anything wrong and that he wasn’t even aware Saarah Sareshwala’s head was on the tray table.

He stated that his seat went back very fast because he “weighs a lot” and didn't realize it. He weighs 200 pounds according to the report showing his personal information.

Uhlmer said he did have a problem with another lady sitting in front with him and they exchanged a few words, but he said he slept most of the way after that.

There was nothing else from him on the matter referencing the cursing he allegedly said.

Here’s the excerpt of the police report from Saarah’s perspective.

Saarah said she woke up to "someone slamming the seat" into her head with all of their force, causing her to wake up and blackout for approximately 10 minutes. Saarah said when she awoke, she did not know what was happening but the two passengers next to her (whom she had no knowledge of prior) explained to her what happened and how hard he pushed the seat back into her head and “maybe he did it intentionally.”

Saarah said when she got back from the restroom, the passenger next to her informed her that she told him (the man sitting in front of her, later identified as sp1 Steven Uhlmer) that it was not right and sp1 Steven responded, "the bitch got what was coming for her." It was also said that he stated something to the effect of the drinks were coming and making sure they spill on her and that he was "talking about hurting" her.

Saarah also claimed Uhlmer, “kept making racial slurs to her.”

She told police she was planning to press charges, but they noted they would pass this up to the FBI since it wasn’t their jurisdiction.

It’s unknown what, if anything, came of this, but I reached out to Sareshwala to find out anything new.