Hello, sir. I'm officer Dasa. This is officer Train. Okay. You know why we're here? Yeah, I don't. >> We're here because of something that happened on the bus. Uh Uh one of I asked I asked the lady to turn her phone off. Yeah. So what? Uh she uh On March 8th, 2025, officers responded to Tampa International Airport following a battery complaint on an employee shuttle bus. A French-speaking Marriott employee had been on the phone with her uncle when a male passenger told her to close her mouth, tapped her on the shoulder, and attempted to grab her badge. After she told him to stop, the physical contact ceased, but the suspect followed her through the terminal to the Marriott, asking her coworkers for her supervisor's name to get her fired. All right. Do you remember uh which bus stop that uh Oh, you came The last one. The last one? The the one closest to the gate? Yes, the next to the gate. Okay. All right. Let me give this back to you. Okay. Uh so apparently uh one of the the gentleman he's uh he tapped on the shoulder and then he tried to just grab your badge? Okay. >> And he he was following me and he said, "I will it's my last week here. Trump going to be for him." So how how did it all started? Okay, I was talking on the phone with my uncle and he called me your voice. Like my voice a noise. >> Okay. I was like, "Okay, okay." And I went outside. Mhm. And I I I I still talking to my uncle >> Yeah. and he he he he stand and come to me like um "Close your mouth." And he tell you like "Close your mouth." >> I was like, "You, are you racist?" What are you What are you doing? And he was like, "Well, I can't hear you." Mhm. Um She She speak French so her English is a little broken and uh And you were speaking to your uncle in French? Yes. Okay. Okay. Uh and then And then he tried to grab your badge? Okay. It happened Okay, like did he did he actually grab it like that? >> Exactly. I was like, "What's wrong with you?" Yeah. He he I was sitting next to him and he was like Okay. And what did he say? He he just Like after he tapped on your shoulder, what did he say? >> Um "It's my last day here. It's okay. He's going to um he's going to make Mhm. they fire me. He said it's that his last day there he's going to make sure he Okay. And he he take pictures and he take videos. Everything he see when he touch me because I was like, "Don't touch me. What's wrong with you?" >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And he follow me until I can go to my So after he after he tapped you, did you continue to tell him to stop and did he do it? He After that He he stopped? Okay. So when when you told him "Stop touching me." then he stopped. Okay. So all this grabbing badge and all that that happened before you tell him to stop? Yes. Okay. That was at the at the bus stop when he stopped. And that was that would happen at the bus stop? When he tried to grab my badge. Okay. The touching was it on the bus or Okay, on the bus. And how far did he follow you? He all the way to the Marriott? >> Yes. Okay. So he he went into the Marriott the office in there? Okay. All right. He said he tapped you on the shoulder and tried to grab your badge. Did he touch you in anywhere else? And right after you tell him to stop, he stopped completely but he just follow you? Yeah. Okay. He stopped injuring me. He he still injuring me. Like when he follow me at the Marriott every agent see him >> Uh-huh. He I ask them um if they um who's our my boss. Who is my boss? Okay, so he was asking He want to make sure if my last day here. Okay. Hello, sir. I'm officer Dasa. This is officer Train. Okay. You know why we're here? Yeah, I don't. >> We're here because of something that happened on the bus. Uh Uh one of I asked I asked the lady to turn her phone off. Yeah. So what? Uh she uh She was like you were recording a battery incident on the bus. What it was the battery? That's yeah, that's what we're here for. Because I asked her to turn her phone off. Just so you know, we have other witnesses from other airlines, too. I just I just want to hear the version your your version of this. So I was in the bus shelter. She's screaming on the phone and I said, "Can you turn your phone off?" Mhm. She calls me a racist Mhm. over and over and over. Mhm. She flips me off with her fingers. >> Mhm. She tells me to go [ __ ] myself. And I said, "All we need is quiet in the shelter. We need quiet on the bus. Mhm. We're going here. We're going to the terminal. I find her coworkers coming down. And they give me her boss's information Mhm. cuz I want to send a thank you say we don't we don't scream on the bus. We don't do anything and Well, apparently this happened it started before the bus and then during the bus. It started in the shelter Uh-huh. then on the bus and then coming to work. Okay. So I followed her down towards the Marriott. Her coworkers coming this way. Three of them stopped and said "Oh, this is our boss's number." I have the boss's Mhm. um I took a screenshot Mhm. of the boss and I said um we we don't need to yell on the bus. Everybody can have earphones. Everybody can be texting. You're screaming. I said, "Don't scream at me." I did turn around and put her my hand on her shoulder and I said, "Can you please stop?" And that was the only time I touched her. And did you So after you guys exchange after you exchange words, you reach over, grab her badge, and take a picture of it? I don't think I took a picture of her badge, no. Um this is I talked to the airline witnesses. They said a little bit different of your story. Okay. You did touch her shoulder. That's what they say. I did touch her shoulder on the bus. And then she told you that don't touch me. She said, "I think" She started screaming and I said, "Nobody needs to hear >> a battery, just so you know. When you touch or strike somebody I didn't strike >> without their permission, that's Okay. >> telling you how the Florida statute reads. >> Okay. Okay. When you touch or strike a person and they don't want to be touched it it is a battery. Okay, but I don't I don't have a picture of her ID on my phone. Okay. So this is my this is my phone. Okay. Did you try to grab the ID? No, I I don't know that I ever touched her ID. Okay. I know I touched her shoulder and she screamed when she was sitting down. And you never reached for her ID. I I don't remember reaching for her ID. Did you touch her shoulder or you tap it? I I told her I said, "We we don't need to be hearing anything." Okay. Okay. Yeah. We still got to get the video from the bus, too. Yeah. Okay. So what happened was because what leading to when you touch her, obviously she did not want you to touch her. She did not want to be touched. Okay. And the letter of the law for statute that's a battery. I did I did touch her. I know. You did not strike her, but you did touch her and that is unwanted touch okay and based on the law. That's constitute a battery. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to need you to go with me. Actually, uh do you have an ID for you, sir? Um yeah. You have my You have an ID one? Uh no, your driver's license. Sure. Under Florida statute section 784.03, battery requires only an intentional unwanted touch. No injury, no strike. A tap on the shoulder is sufficient. Officers interview the victim first, establishing a clear timeline. The badge grab happened at the bus stop. The shoulder contact occurred on the bus. Officers now contact the suspect. His account diverges significantly. He describes her as screaming, though she was speaking French, a language he does not appear to understand. The officers' explanation of Florida's battery statute is precise and accurate. When you touch a person and they don't want to be touched, that is battery. The suspect's response is not denial. It is acknowledgement. When asked about the badge grab, the suspect's answer shifts three times from I don't think so to I don't know to I don't remember. Officers note that witnesses from multiple airlines tell a different story. And uh we So I'll just got to walk back with me. I'm going to give you a court date, okay? A court date? >> Yes, sir. So basically basically we are going to arrest you and release you on your own recognizance. Okay. Um you will get a court date and it's up to the state attorney whether they wanted to when they talk to her they wanted to press charges when they see all the videos from everywhere. Okay. Um I just don't want people touching me. Okay. And what did the witnesses say? That you touched her. I did touch her. I did. You guys were arguing back and forth and I That is true. And then if you have any letter from the court, you better respond, you know. Okay. But and uh when we once we get to the office uh I'm going to give you a a statement form for you to fill out so that you would have your side of the story in these papers. Okay? >> Okay. Um you want to do it at our office down here or Yeah. >> You want to go down You just go down here. We have an office down here. But I have an office right here and nobody's there. Yeah, no, but we have our our system It's our system. Okay. All right. So, I thought it was this. >> [laughter] >> Okay. Um so, I'm not going to work. Is that what you're saying? Assault and battery takes two. Okay, cuz I'm I'm I'm supposed to be on an airplane right now, but Oh, yeah. My flight leaves at 12:30. detained Okay. Yeah. No. So, um not detained >> Not detained. But I got to go with them. So, I'm not going to be able to >> our office down here. Okay. >> on the first floor. Okay. We're just going to do a uh ROR, which is release on your own recognizance. Okay. We want to see if finish filling out all the paperwork and we give him a printout of the court date. Okay. Okay. I don't know if it's going to take him 20 minutes to 30 minutes. >> Okay. We'll get it done. We'll get it done. The plane's got to go to Denver. Okay. We'll figure that out. Okay. All right. All right. Sorry, guys. So, can I know who made the complaint? The actual person and her boss. Everybody else that was there. And then since we have to do an investigation, I have to go to Okay. the people that were on the bus from other airlines. Okay. And I have to interview them. Okay. So, what is this uh It's a simple battery, sir. So, But is it a 30-day thing, a 20-day thing, or What do How long? The computer would give us automatically a court date. Okay. Okay. Do I have to appear in person or can I do it Oh, in person. Yeah. I mean, if you need more time, you can request to reschedule. If you was not touching or the way if you wouldn't have even touched her, we just would have left it at verbal. I did. I did. I did. And I and then I I told her to stop and I said, "Please stop." on the bus. I don't know. I did. And we did the whole situation causing her a lot of distress. She was crying when we got there. So, So, she made the complaint. Yeah, she she was the one that made the complaint. The suspect is placed under arrest for simple battery, a first-degree misdemeanor under Florida law, and processed for release on his own recognizance with a court date assigned. Officer Duster's closing observation is the legal lesson in one sentence. Had the suspect never touched her, there would have been no basis for arrest. That single unwanted touch changed everything. The suspect receives a D. He targeted a woman for speaking her native language, made unlawful physical contact, and pursued her through the terminal. His account changed three times. His sole credit, he did not resist arrest. The victim receives an A. She objected, disengaged, and reported correctly. Officers Duster and Train receive a B+ for accurate application of the statute and professional interview technique. Five lessons from this encounter. One, speaking a foreign language in public is legally protected. No one has the authority to silence you. Notify staff if noise is an issue. Do not confront, touch, or follow. Two, Florida's battery threshold is low. An unwanted tap is enough. Intent to harm is not required. Three, following someone after a confrontation turns a dispute into evidence. Every action taken in pursuit becomes part of the record. Four, independent witnesses are decisive. Assume others in a public space saw exactly what happened. Five, if touched without consent, object, leave, report. The victim did all three. The system responded accordingly. Let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic you'd like us to cover. Thank you for watching.