A video surfaced online showing a Frontier Airlines passenger being duct-taped to his seat after allegedly groping flight attendants, multiple news outlets reported.
According to a Miami-Dade Police Department report, Maxwell Berry of Norwalk, Ohio, was on a Frontier Airlines flight July 31 from Philadelphia to Miami where he was already intoxicated after drinking two alcoholic beverages.
The police report said Berry ordered two more drinks. The report said he used an empty cup to brush against the backside of a flight attendant, and spilled a drink on himself.
Berry then groped the chest of a female flight attendant and punched a male flight attendant in the face who was watching over him, according to the ABC affiliate WPVI.
Berry reportedly began fighting other passengers as they restrained him to his seat by using duct tape. Berry remained duct-taped until his flight landed and police arrested him.
ABC News reporter Sam Sweeney shared a video showing Berry hurling insults toward other passengers on the Frontier flight before striking a flight attendant and being restrained.
Passenger Alfredo Rivera, who captured the incident on his cellphone, told WPVI that Berry was starting to get “aggressive” and attacked the male flight attendant in the process.
Berry, 22, was booked into a Miami-Dade County area jail and was charged with three counts of battery, according to the police report.
In a statement, Frontier confirmed that the incident happened on its flight, adding the flight attendants involved will be “relieved of flying pending completion of investigation of the events,” WVPI reported.
Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said in a statement that Frontier’s management should have supported the crew instead of making a “knee-jerk” decision to suspend the flight attendants.
“We will be fighting this with every contractual and legal tool available, but we would hope there will be no need for that as management comes to their senses and supports the people on the frontline charged with keeping all passengers safe,” Nelson said. “As noted in our unruly passenger survey, if this is not immediately corrected, Flight Attendants may feel unsafe to come to work. Management has a legal duty to maintain a safe work environment for employees.”
The Hill has reached out to Miami-Dade Police Department and Frontier Airlines for comment and more information.
–Updated at 3:10 p.m.