Passengers on a Frontier Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Miami duct taped a man to his seat after he groped two flight attendants and got into a physical altercation with another, authorities said.
The man, Maxwell Berry, 22, was arrested Sunday at Miami International Airport and charged with three counts of battery, according to an arrest report.
Miami-Dade County police said the incident happened on a late-night Saturday flight and involved an intoxicated passenger.
The report says that Berry had consumed two alcoholic drinks and that after he finished them, he brushed his cup against a flight attendant's buttocks. The flight attendant told him "don't touch me," according to the arrest report.
Berry ordered a third alcoholic beverage but spilled it on his shirt, according to the report. It said that he went to the bathroom and that when he came out, he was shirtless. The flight attendant told Berry he needed to be clothed and helped him get an extra shirt out of his carry-on bag, the report says.
According to the report, Berry walked around the plane for 15 minutes before he groped a second flight attendant's breasts. She told him to sit down and not to touch her, it says. Authorities wrote that Berry then approached both the first and second flight attendants, put his arms around them and groped their chests.
They asked a third flight attendant to watch Berry. The report says that the third attendant asked Berry to remain seated and that Berry punched the attendant in the face. After a fight broke out, passengers intervened by using duct tape to "tape him down to the seat and tie him with a seatbelt extender for the remaining flight," the report says.
A spokesperson for Frontier Airlines said Berry, of Norwalk, Ohio, was arrested after the plane landed. It was not clear whether Berry has an attorney, and he could not be reached at phone numbers listed for him.
The flight attendants involved in the incident were placed on paid leave pending an investigation, a standard procedure.
"Frontier Airlines maintains the utmost value, respect, concern and support for all of our flight attendants, including those who were assaulted on this flight," the spokesperson said. "We are supporting the needs of these team members and are working with law enforcement to fully support the prosecution of the passenger involved."
