A United Airlines flight attendant was arrested for battery earlier this year after allegedly tapping an employee from another airline on the shoulder — and new police body cam footage shows what really happened that day at Tampa International Airport
The incident occurred on March 8, when the 58‑year‑old flight attendant, identified in court documents obtained by People as Frederick Fleischmann, encountered a Cayman Airways worker at an employee shuttle bus stop in the airport parking area.
The Cayman Airways worker was reportedly speaking loudly on her phone in French while waiting for the bus to arrive.
According to the woman’s account to responding officers, as seen in footage published Wednesday by the New York Post, Fleischmann told her to “close your mouth” before the bus arrived, which she perceived as rude and possibly racially insensitive.
“He said it’s my last week here. Trump is gonna deport me,” the woman told police. “I was like, ‘Are you racist? Why are you bothering me?’”
The situation escalated once both were aboard the shuttle, with Fleischmann admitting in the body‑cam footage that he tapped the woman on the shoulder while asking her to stop speaking loudly. He also allegedly threatened to ensure she was fired from her job.
“She calls me a racist over and over and over,” Fleischmann told officers just before he was due to board a United flight. “She flips me off with her fingers, she tells me to go f*** myself, and I said, ‘All we need is quiet in the shelter.’”
“I did turn around and put my hand on her shoulder, and I said, ‘Can you please stop?’ And that was the only time I touched her,” he continued.
One of the officers then explained to Fleischmann that under Florida law, any intentional, unwanted physical contact can legally constitute battery.
“That’s technically a battery, just so you know,” the officer said about the alleged incident.
The officers proceeded to arrest Fleischmann on a misdemeanor battery charge and removed him from his flight.
“If you wouldn't even have touched her, we just would have left it as verbal,” one officer told Fleischmann as they boarded an elevator, as he again admitted to touching the woman.
Fleischmann was later released with the expectation that he would appear in court. However, prosecutors in the State of Florida ultimately dropped the case on May 16, formally abandoning the charges.
