An Ohio couple was taken into custody after investigators said they barged into a family’s cruise ship cabin and assaulted two adults and a 9-year-old child following a complaint that they were being too loud.
Gannon Jacox, 29, and his girlfriend, Brooklyn Hicks, 28, were arrested when the cruise ship returned to Port Canaveral, Florida, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said.
According to Ivey, Jacox and Hicks had been drinking and arguing loudly when one of the alleged victims asked them to lower their voices.
Brooklyn Hicks was charged with burglary with battery and battery-touch/strike after authorities said she and her boyfriend forced their way into a family’s cruise ship cabin. (Brevard County Sheriff’s Office)
Ivey said Hicks then approached the victim, while Jacox came over with his cellphone, started filming the confrontation and urged Hicks to attack.
The situation escalated when the pair allegedly forced their way into the family’s cabin, where the 9-year-old child 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.
The sheriff said Jacox struck each of the three victims during the altercation, while Hicks also threw punches.
Gannon Jacox was charged with burglary with battery and child abuse without great bodily harm after authorities said he struck three people, including a 9-year-old child, inside a cruise ship cabin. (Brevard County Sheriff’s Office)
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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.
Cruise ships dock at Port Canaveral in Florida. Authorities have not identified the cruise ship where the alleged attack occurred. (Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
“And if that memo is not clear enough for you then you might want to stay your butt out of Brevard County!!”
