Delta security officer 'viciously assaulted,' repeatedly beaten with his own radio at JFK

A Delta Air Lines security officer at a New York City airport was "viciously assaulted" and beaten to the floor with his own radio, federal authorities said Thursday.

The alleged attack happened in a jetway on Sept. 22 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, according to a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Three women were arrested Thursday morning in connection with the attack. They were identified as Jordan Nixon, 21, of Bay Shore; Janessa Torres, 21, of Central Islip; and Johara Zavala, 44, also of Central Islip.

The women allegedly refused to leave the jetway at the airport after they were told they could not board a Delta Air Lines flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, an unsealed indictment states.

They became “belligerent, with one appearing to be visibly disoriented and possibly intoxicated, and another who was refusing to properly wear her mask," according to the indictment.

A flight gate agent notified the crew about the situation and a captain and another employee decided the women could not fly. The indictment says a security officer asked the women to leave but they refused “and approached him while yelling and cursing.”

One of the women then allegedly hit the officer repeatedly with his own radio, causing him to fall to the ground. When the gate agent came to help, the agent was punched in the face, according to the indictment.

The indictment alleges that all three women then “punched and kicked” the officer in the face and body while he was on the floor. Both the officer and the gate agent were treated at a hospital for their injuries.

Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, condemned the women and vowed to go after anyone who shows "extreme and aggressive behavior" toward flight crew members.

"As alleged, the defendants viciously assaulted an airline security officer by beating him to the floor with his radio and then kicking and punching him in the face and body while he was down,” Peace said in a statement. "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.”

Attorney information was not available for the women.