Meltdown

JetBlue Steward's Bail Set at $2,500

Steven Slater's mother comes to his defense.

All eyes were on Steven Slater Tuesday, as he pleaded not guilty in court to charges of criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, and trespassing. Slater, 38, was busted Monday for cursing loudly over a JetBlue public-address system, releasing the emergency slide, grabbing two beers, and sliding away to freedom after a passenger had cursed him out and overhead luggage had hit him in the head. Slater's cancer-stricken mother, Diane, was quick to come to his defense. “I can understand why he snapped. I would have snapped too,” she said. “I think he just had a very small meltdown, and I think he deserved to be able to have that meltdown, if you saw the egg on his head here where he got smacked.” Slater, who often travels to California to care for his mother, was arraigned in court with bail set at $2,500.