Chris Christie's Niece Injured 6 Deputies While Being Ejected From Plane: Police

JEFFERSON PARISH, LA — The niece of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spent part of Thanksgiving Day in jail after asking passengers on a flight who she believed to be Latino if they were smuggling drugs and injuring six sheriff’s deputies in Louisiana, according to reports.

Shannon Epstein, 25, asked a family on a Spirit Airlines flight bound for New Jersey whether they were “smuggling cocaine” and became angry, The Times-Picayune reported, at which point airline employees asked she be taken off the plane, forcing it back to the gate.

Epstein was “extremely combative” with police on the jet bridge, according to Capt. Jason Rivarde of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, who said she injured six deputies, biting one and kicking another in the groin, before she was secured in a wheelchair.

“Throughout her entire interaction with deputies, she repeatedly stated that they would lose their jobs or be arrested because of her familial relationships,” Rivarde said in an email.

Epstein was charged with multiple counts of battering an officer, resisting an officer with force and remaining after forbidden, according to Rivarde, who said she was released later the same day, Nov. 24, after posting bond.

Representatives for Christie and Spirit Airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment.