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Delta workers attacked at JFK Airport
Three Long Island women are now facing federal charges after allegedly attacking an airline security officer at JFK Airport and another employee who tried to help.
NEW YORK - Three Long Island women are accused of assaulting a Delta Air Lines security officer at JFK Airport who was hit with his own radio, punched in the face, and kicked. Another airline employee was also injured in the attack.
On Thursday, Federal prosecutors announced charges against Jordan Nixon, 21, of Bay Shore, Janessa Torres, 21, of Central Islip, and Johara Zavala, 44, of Central Islip.
The three are accused of attacking the officer and a gate agent in a jetway at JFK Airport on Sept. 22, 2021. The indictment claimed the women refused to leave a jetway after they were informed that they would be denied boarding for a Delta flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Prosecutors say the trio were belligerent, with one appearing to be visibly disoriented and possibly intoxicated, and another who was refusing to properly wear her mask "viciously assaulted."
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The flight's gate agent notified the flight crew of the women. The captain of the flight and a member of the flight crew determined that the women should not be allowed to board the plane.
The women then allegedly refused the request of the airline security officer to leave the jetway and approached him while yelling and cursing.
One of the women allegedly beat him with his own radio until he fell to the floor. When the gate agent tried to assist him, one of the women punched the gate agent in the face.
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All three then are accused of punching and kicking the security officer in the face and body while he remained on the floor.
Both employees were later treated at a hospital for their injuries.
The three were released on a $25,000 bond each after arraignment on Thursday afternoon. Information on lawyers who could speak on their behalf was not immediately available.
United States Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement: "The extreme and aggressive behavior in connection with our air travel is out of control. This Office has zero tolerance for violent conduct that threatens the safety of airline passengers and employees and will prosecute defendants who allegedly engage in such conduct to the fullest extent of the law."
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Flight attendants learn self-defense in New Jersey
Since the beginning of 2021, the FAA has handed out over $1M in fines to unruly and violent passengers. FOX 5 NY goes inside a one-of-a-kind training school in New Jersey where airline crews are learning self-defense.