Masturbating airline passenger blames Tabasco Sauce www.privateofficer.com

Salt Lake City Utah Dec 31 2010 A 50-year-old Florida man has been arrested after an Idaho girl reported the man exposed himself during a flight from Salt Lake City to Lewiston, reports the Associated Press.

The 17-year-old girl says she switched seats when the man sitting next to her began masturbating aboard the Skywest flight.

The Lewiston Tribune reports the girl told her father what happened and he reported it to the Transportation Security Administration. TSA officials notified Lewiston police, who arrested the Gulf Breeze, Fla., man while they investigate him on suspicion of misdemeanor indecent exposure, reports AP.

Police say the man told them he spilled Tabasco sauce on himself, which caused his crotch to burn and itch.

Lewiston Police Capt. Tom Greene told The Seattle Weekly, “The Tabasco defense was that it caused him to have an uncontrollable itch. Officers said he wasn’t having any itch issues when they interviewed him, and there was no evidence of a spill on his pants.”

The Seattle Weekly also reports that the accused man, Rafael Escamilla, has a Facebook page, which has since been taken down, where he says he’s married and the Director of Research at Andrew-Paulos Research and Education Institute.