An Ohio couple was arrested after authorities said they forced their way into a family’s cruise ship cabin and attacked two adults and their 9-year-old child after being asked to quiet down.
Gannon Jacox, 29, and his girlfriend, Brooklyn Hicks, 28, were arrested after the ship returned to Port Canaveral, Florida, according to Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey.
Ivey said Jacox and Hicks had been arguing loudly after drinking when one of the victims asked them to quiet down.
Hicks then confronted the victim, while Jacox walked over with his cellphone, began recording the encounter and encouraged Hicks to attack them, according to Ivey.
The couple then pushed their way into the family’s cabin, where the 9-year-old was inside, the sheriff said.
“As a fight ensued Jacox ends up hitting all 3 people (including the child) and Hicks was just swinging, hoping one would land,” Ivey wrote in a Facebook post.
Ivey said Jacox struck all three victims during the fight. Hicks also threw punches, according to the sheriff.
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Jacox suffered an eye injury during the confrontation that Ivey said could have come from one of the victims or from Hicks as she threw punches.
None of the three victims was seriously injured, according to Ivey.
Jacox was charged with burglary with battery and child abuse without great bodily harm, while Hicks was charged with burglary with battery and battery-touch/strike, according to the sheriff.
Authorities have not identified the cruise ship involved in the incident.
Four cruise ships were scheduled to dock at Port Canaveral on Saturday: Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas, Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Treasure and Carnival Cruise Line’s Mardi Gras and Carnival Freedom, according to the port’s schedule. It was not immediately clear which ship Jacox and Hicks had been aboard.
Ivey used the arrests to warn cruise passengers about drinking excessively and causing trouble.
“So what’s the moral of the story…if you can’t hold your liquor, then you definitely shouldn’t be out in public causing a scene like this and injuring random people including a child!!” Ivey wrote.
“And if that memo is not clear enough for you then you might want to stay your butt out of Brevard County!!”
