Two cruise passengers were arrested after they stormed into a family’s cabin and assaulted them, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO).
The incident started when the passengers, Gannon Jacox, 29, and Brooklyn Hicks, 28, got into an argument with each other while drinking. A victim in the family told the passengers to be quiet, which allegedly angered them.
Hicks decided to go confront the family while Jacox recorded the incident, encouraging his girlfriend to beat up the family. The couple “pushed” their way into the family’s room, where Jacox allegedly struck all three people in the family including a nine-year-old child. Thankfully, no one in the family was seriously injured from the attack, according to the BCSO.
Both Jacox and Hicks were arrested and booked into the Brevard County Jail on Saturday, August 15, 2026, after the unidentified cruise ship returned to Port Canaveral. Jacox is being held on a $31,000 bond with four charges of child abuse and burglary. Hicks is being held on a $6,000 bond with two charges of burglary and battery.
Four cruise ships came into port that day: Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas, Disney’s Disney Treasure, and Carnival Cruise Line’s Mardi Gras and Carnival Freedom. No outlet or cruise line has reported which ship the incident occurred on.
In our last article, we reported on the recently published Q2 2026 cruise crime data required by the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (CVSSA) of 2010. We reported how cruise lines are able to underreport crime due to the narrow classifications set by the CVSSA. For example, physical assaults are only reported if there is ‘serious bodily injury.’ In this case, Jacox was only charged with child abuse without great bodily harm, meaning this incident does not have to be included in the Q3 2026 crime data.
Furthermore, there is no way to check if this incident is reported because the cruise line in question is unknown. Six charges, $37,000 in bond, and an alleged assault involving a nine-year-old child, but potentially nothing in the federal cruise crime data. This is yet another example of how serious alleged criminal conduct aboard cruise ships can fall outside the narrow categories published in the federal cruise crime statistics.
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