Miami ? The captain of an America West jetliner charged with trying to fly a jetliner while drunk on Monday had been previously arrested twice by Arizona police during alcohol-related incidents, reports show.

Thomas Porter Cloyd, 44, continued to fly jetliners for America West despite admitting to police that he had been drinking when he shoved his wife, spat on her and berated her during a 1998 incident in their home outside of Phoenix, police reports show. The charges were later dropped.

A little more than a year later, Cloyd was arrested for harassing his downstairs neighbor, according to an arrest report. He shouted obscenities at her, pounded on her door and stomped on his floor after “drinking a lot,” a police report says.

“In both instances, the officers involved wrote that alcohol had been involved,” said Det. Emma Bribiescas, spokeswoman for the Chandler, Ariz. Police Department. “He was intoxicated and belligerent and giving the officers a hard time.”

Cloyd continued flying for America West while on two years probation, which ended in March.

The airline said Tuesday that it only learned of Cloyd’s alcohol-related problems after his arrest at Miami International Airport.

He and First Officer Christopher Scott Hughes, 41, were arrested Monday after they showed up intoxicated to fly an Airbus A319 jet with 124 passengers aboard from Miami to Phoenix, police say.

Police ordered the plane back to the gate as they prepared to taxi toward the runway.

Hughes reportedly had an explanation for why his breath smelled like alcohol: “It’s merely mouthwash,” he told Miami-Dade police.

Police didn’t buy it, and Breathalyzer tests confirmed the suspicion.

Hughes had a blood-alcohol level of .084 and Cloyd, .091 more than twice the Federal Aviation Administration’s limit.

America West said Tuesday evening that it was prepared to fire the pilots for violating the company’s “zero tolerance policy on being drunk on duty,” said spokeswoman Patty Nowack.

Cloyd and Hughes spent part of Monday night behind bars. They each posted $7,000 bail late Monday night.

If convicted, they face up to five years in prison.

As the pilots left the jail, they covered their faces with manila envelopes containing the personal belongings just handed back to them by jail personnel.

They are scheduled to be arraigned July 22.