A man accused of threatening to kill a baby and charging toward the cockpit of a Northwest Airlines flight on Dec. 9 was denied release yesterday in federal court.

Santiago Lol Tizol, 37, is charged with one count of interfering with the airline's flight crew. If convicted, he faces 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He is in custody at the federal detention center near the airport.

In denying the motion for supervised release, U.S. Magistrate Kevin Chang cited suggestions by Tizol's brother, Benito, in a pretrial report that Santiago Tizol's "mental health" was questionable.

Also, Chang disagreed with assistant federal public defender Matthew Winter's assertion that Tizol did not present a flight risk.

Winter argued in court that Tizol, a Guatemalan national who received political asylum from the United States after his parents were killed by the Guatemalan government, would never try to flee a country that granted him asylum.

Winter also said Benito Tizol, who lives on the Big Island, would be willing to take his brother in and help him find work.

Chang pointed to Santiago Tizol's claim in the pretrial report that he lived in Los Angeles for the past several years, while his brother, Benito, said the two were living together in Kailua, Kona.

"There is significant issue in the court's mind whether the defendant presents a flight risk," Chang said.

No preliminary hearing date was set.

Both Winter and Assistant U.S. Attorney William Shipley, who is prosecuting the case for the government, declined comment after the hearing.

FBI agents arrested Tizol soon after Northwest Flight 91 from Los Angeles arrived at Honolulu International Airport at 6:46 p.m. on Dec. 9.

A flight attendant told investigators that Tizol began acting strangely about an hour into the flight, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court.

About an hour later, Tizol moved from his seat to the row in front of a Canadian couple and their baby girl, according to an FBI statement.

Tizol seemed nervous and repeatedly stood up, paced the plane's aisle, and at one point told a flight attendant that "the little boy" bothered him and that he was "disrespected by the boy," an apparent reference to the girl, the complaint said.

Several passengers and crew members heard Tizol say he was going to kill the baby and was holding a cell phone cord "in a threatening matter," the affidavit said. Five minutes before the flight was scheduled to land, a flight attendant asked Tizol to move to the back of the plane, but he refused, the affidavit said.

The attendant then moved the Canadian couple and their baby to the back for their safety, the affidavit said. At that point, Tizol allegedly rushed the cockpit.

Four male passengers subdued Tizol and he was restrained with plastic handcuffs.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.