Mexican pilot accused of 'buzzing' boats in Laguna

PORT MANSFIELD — A Mexico City man is behind bars after Willacy County authorities received calls Saturday that a small plane was "buzzing" boaters in the Laguna Madre.

Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence said his office received four calls at about 4 p.m. from people on three boats that a small airplane was allegedly flying very low, causing boaters to take evasive action and that some people jumped off boats, believing the plane was going to strike their boats.

"When we learned he was going to land at the Cameron County Airport at Bayview, we called the Cameron County Sheriff’s Office and they arrested him," Spence said.

The 20-year-old man is now in custody in Willacy County and "he will be arraigned on 13 or 14 counts of aggravated assault," Spence said. "He was supposedly taking flying lessons at the Weslaco airport where he got the plane."

Some of the reports he has received are that there were other people in the plane with the man and other reports say he was alone, Spence said.

No instructor was with the pilot, the sheriff said.

"It gets weirder as it goes along," he said.

Weslaco Aviation Director George Garrett said he only knows the man was a student at Pratt Air Service.

Spence declined to release the pilot’s name until he is arraigned.