The three Long Island women — Jordan Nixon, Janessa Torres and Johara Zavala — were charged by a federal grand jury on one count for each assaulting an airline employee with security duties, according to the indictment released Thursday. They were arraigned Thursday, pleaded not guilty and were released on $25,000 bail with a family member as surety.
“As alleged, the defendants brutally assaulted an airline security officer by hitting him on the floor with his radio, then kicking and punching him in the face and body while he was downstairs,” said Breon Peace, the state attorney general’s office. United States for the Eastern District of New York. York (EDNY), said in a press release Thursday. “The extreme and aggressive behavior associated with our air travel has spiraled out of control,” he continued, saying his office has a “zero tolerance” policy for such violent behavior.
Describing the incident in September, authorities said a gate agent notified the flight crew of the three women’s “belligerent” behavior, and determined they were unable to board, the EDNY press release said. When a security guard asked him to leave the jetway, one defendant allegedly punched the security guard “repeatedly with his own radio” and after he fell to the ground, all three allegedly punched and kicked him as he lay on the ground. .
“The defendants were combative, one appeared visibly disoriented and possibly intoxicated, and another refused to wear her mask properly,” prosecutors said according to the release.
Federal and state officials claimed the three women assaulted two airline employees. At one point, the gatekeeper tried to help the security guard, and a defendant allegedly punched the gatekeeper in the face, the press release said. The charge only reflects the attack on the security officer, according to the indictment.
The acting assistant director of the FBI, Michael Driscoll, said the FBI is in charge of arresting those who attack or threaten the crew.
During Thursday’s arraignment, the judge granted a woman special permission to fly on a prepaid trip to Florida for her birthday Friday. The government asked the judge to reject the request given its plans to fly and the nature of the case involving alleged violence while travelling, but the judge rejected that. However, the suspects must hand in their passports.
All parties have said in court that they intend to conduct interim plea negotiations. The next status conference is on February 3.
DailyExpertNews has reached out to the women’s lawyers for comment.
Attorney Peter Guadagnino says his client Nixon, 21, “maintains her innocence and denies the charges set forth in the government’s indictment.”
Guadagnino added: “We are waiting to see what discovery comes our way and if anything is recorded related to the incident.”
Jacob Mitchell, Zavala’s attorney, declined to comment. Torres’ lawyer was not immediately available for comment.
Delta said in a statement: “Nothing is more important than the safety of our employees and customers, and we will not tolerate any kind of tolerance for physical violence at our airports and on our aircraft. We will work fully with law enforcement to ensure this unacceptable behavior will be held accountable.”
DailyExpertNews’s Liam Reilly and Lauren del Valle contributed to this report.