Frontier Airlines passenger taped to seat after allegedly groping two flight attendants and hitting another

A Frontier Airlines passenger has been taped to his seat after he allegedly groped and assaulted flight attendants on a flight to Miami from Philadelphia last week. The 22-year-old was arrested at Miami International Airport.

Authorities arrested Maxwell Wilkinson Berry of Ohio on Saturday and charged him with three counts of mischief, according to a Miami-Dade police report. He drank two drinks during the flight and ordered a third, police said. He allegedly brushed an empty mug against the back of a flight attendant, who told him not to touch it, officials said.

He later spilled a drink on his shirt and went to the bathroom, coming out shirtless, police said. A flight attendant helped him get another shirt from his carry-on.

After circling the plane for about 15 minutes, he began to “befriend” another flight attendant and allegedly grabbed her breasts, according to the police report. He then put his arms around the two flight attendants and allegedly groped their breasts.

A flight attendant was called in to monitor Berry, who then punched the man in the face, police said. The flight attendant and nearby passengers restrained Berry with duct tape and a seat belt extender, according to the report.

Videos on social media showed Berry swearing at the crew, and at one point he claimed his parents “were worth over $ 2 million.” Other clips showed Berry swinging over the male flight attendant and later tied up with duct tape.

Frontier first said flight attendants would be “removed from flying pending an investigation.” Their statement sparked a response from Association of Flight Attendants union president Sara Nelson, who called Frontier’s statement “reflex” to a short video of the incident.

“If this is not immediately corrected, flight attendants may feel in danger of coming to work,” Nelson said. “Management has a legal obligation to maintain a safe working environment for employees.”

Frontier later said in an updated statement provided to CBS News’s Errol Barnett that the flight crew members were on paid leave, which is “consistent with an event of this nature.”

“Frontier Airlines maintains the utmost value, respect, concern and support for all of our flight attendants, including those who have been assaulted on this flight. We are meeting the needs of these team members and working with them. law enforcement to fully support the prosecution of the passenger involved, ”the airline said.

The incident is one of many customer-related disruptions since air travel resumed during the pandemic. In June, the The FAA said it has received over 3,000 reports of unruly passenger behavior since the start of the year.