A criminal complaint was filed in Miami, Florida, after an unruly passenger assaulted several flight attendants on an American Airlines flight from Barbados in March.
Robert David Croizat, a British national, was charged with “interference with flight crew members and attendants” and “assault within maritime and territorial jurisdictions” after he boarded a flight from Bridgetown, Barbados, to Miami on March 8 at approximately 3:53 p.m.
The trouble began when Croizat got up from his seat and approached a male flight attendant nearly two hours into the flight and shouted at him about how the attendant “addressed” him while giving him meal options.
“CROZIAT told FA 1 he was a ‘sh-tty’ flight attendant and should have addressed him in a better way when giving him the choices for his meal,” states the complaint.
According to the complaint, after Croizat noticed another flight attendant observing the exchange, he said “What? You want to call the captain?” The complaint states that Croizat began aggressively and loudly began demanding for the staff to “get the captain out here.” A third flight attendant told Croizat to return to his seat and he “touched her” before twice pushing her shoulders.
“During this altercation, CROIZAT touched flight attendant 3 (“FA 3”), according
to information provided by FA 3 to law enforcement,” says the complaint. “When FA 3 told CROIZAT not to touch her, he pushed her twice, according to FA 3. Law enforcement obtained a video of this part of the altercation from a passenger, where CROIZAT can be seen making contact with FA 3 twice on the shoulder.”
The belligerent man continued to demand to see the captain as the third flight attendant called the captain to advise him of the disturbance. The second flight attendant, who was standing in front of the cockpit, again advised Croizat to sit down, as did multiple passengers. Croizat pushed the second flight attendant while “briefly pinning her
against the cockpit door,” which prompted a passenger to lift Croizat up and place him into his seat.
The menacing Croizat remained in his seat for the remainder of the flight but continued to “complain to the flight attendants” about his treatment on the flight. The captain called air traffic control to advise them there was an attempt to breach the cockpit, but that person was restrained. Croizat was removed from the plane upon landing in Miami by law enforcement. Croizat’s attorney, Barry Wax, claimed the “incident was entirely out of character” for his client and that he regretted his “overreaction.”
“[Croizat] got into an argument with a flight attendant whom he felt was disrespecting him,” said Wax. “Two other flight attendants became involved, Mr. Croizat tapped one of them on the back of her shoulder when her back was turned, and after she turned to face him, he poked her in the shoulder two times.”
Wax also claimed that the complaint was “an exaggeration” and he never attempted to breach the cockpit. He also claimed that his client was merely “poking” the flight attendant and qualified it as an “unwanted touch,” not an attack.
Wax filed a motion with the court explaining that Croizat had traveled to Miami to visit his son, who co-signed his father’s bond. Croizat’s passport was confiscated until he pleaded guilty in a Miami federal court on May 10 to a misdemeanor assault charge after the felony, the interference with a flight crew charge, was dropped.
