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Detroit Woman Sues Peeing Pastor For $2 Million While On A Flight Home From Las Vegas

/ CBS Detroit

CBS Detroit - There is a lawsuit out by a Detroit woman who says a pastor at a North Carolina church urinated on her while on a flight earlier this month. According to The Detroit News, Alicia Beverly, 25 of Detroit has hired Geoffrey Fieger to represent her in the lawsuit.

According to the Charlotte Observer and The Detroit News, Beverly was on a Delta flight with her sister from Las Vegas to Detroit. Also on the plane was a North Carolina Pastor named Daniel Chalmers. Chalmers is reported to have had "a couple of drinks" and was on prescription meds. As Beverly was sleeping on the flight she awoke to the feeling of something warm on her. According to the police report, (the victim) "woke up feeling something warm on her body and when she looked up to her right, she observed Mr. Chalmers standing next to her shaking his exposed penis. (She) stated that she then noticed that Mr. Chalmers urinated on her and she started screaming."

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The incident occured at 2:44 am, while most passengers were asleep. After she started screaming an off-duty officer restrained Chalmers. According to Fieger, Chalmers had a BAC of .08 or higher.

Alicia Beverly is seeking $2 million in a lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court against the pastor and the church he worked for, for commiting acts of negligence, gross negligence, willful and wanton misconduct, sexual assualt and battery and infliction of emotional dsitress.  In a statement reported by the Detroit News, Fieger said "It is difficult to believe that a church would hire a Pastor who boarded a plane drunk and has a proclivity to urinate on passengers. Considering the times we are living in, nothing surprises me anymore,".

Detroit Metro Airport - DTW
Credit: CBS Detroit | Charles Forbes - A Delta jet on approach to Detroit Metro Airport.

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The Detroit news reports the church is being sued for "negligent hiring, training, supervision, and/or intervention and vicarious liability". Claiming the church "owed duties to the general public to properly hire, train and retain employees that could perform their job duties in a non-negligent manner and refrain from injuring the public."
Documents filed in the lawsuit say Beverly suffered from emotional and mental distress, anxiety, fright, shock, humiliation, grief, embarassment, mortification, and inability to experience social pleasures and enjoyment.
According to the Charlotte Observor, the off-duty officer who restrained Chalmers noticed his eyes were bloodshot and smelled of alcohol. He asked Beverly what happend and she said "He peed on me!". He then asked Chalmers "What did you do?"; Chalmers replied, "I peed on her,  I thought I was going to the bathroom."
Later on Chalmers denied when questoned by an officer that he urinated on anyone, saying "Whatever it is she is accusing me of, I didn't do it,". The Charlotte Observer says while being carried off the plane, Chalmers said to the Captain of the plane he would sue Delta Airlines "for defamation of character for their treatment of him,".
Chalmers and his wife Shara Lea Chalmers lead Love Wins Ministries in Raleigh and was on staff at Catch the Fire Raliegh-Durham Church. He has since tendered his resignation at Catch the Fire. The case has been reffered to the FBi who handles incidents on domestic flights and has he been issued a court appearance for misdemeanor assault, as well as the civil lawsuit filed by Beverly.

© 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Information from the Detroit Free Press contributed to this report.

First published on October 29, 2020 / 6:14 PM EDT

© 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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