HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A cruise passenger is facing a felony charge in South Florida after he and others beat and bloodied a man to the point of unconsciousness while on a Royal Caribbean ship, according to court documents obtained by Local 10 News on Wednesday.
Michael White, 18, of Siler City, North Carolina, was arrested by Broward County deputies Friday after the Liberty of the Seas returned to Port Everglades.
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White has at least one co-defendant listed in his arrest report, though that person’s name did not appear in Broward court records.
According to a Broward Sheriff’s Office arrest report, the dispute happened Thursday at sea after a woman who was with the victim asked a group of “kids” to “stop jumping up and down on the elevator,” which was causing it to sway.
Authorities said the group started yelling and saying, “B----, who are you talking to?”
“At this point, (the victim) said he yelled to stop jumping in the elevator, but the kids wouldn’t stop; they kept arguing and fussing at them and calling them names,” BSO Deputy Demetrius Williams wrote in the report.
Deputies said after the elevator stopped on the eighth floor, the victim told the woman, “We got to get out of here.”
“The kids did not move when the door opened, so he pushed through the crowd to exit the elevator,” Williams wrote. “Once he got out, he said he started getting struck by individuals in the face area, causing him to stagger backward. After staggering backward, he (redacted) fell to the floor and that’s when he started getting kicked. Also, at this point, (the victim) said he blacked out and the next thing he knew, he woke up in a pool of blood on the floor.”
White was arrested on a felony charge of aggravated battery causing bodily harm.
BSO records show he was released from jail on Saturday after posting a $5,000 bond.
A judge ordered he have no contact with the victim.