Florida lawyer arrested for allegedly attacking senior on board Norwegian Cruise Line ship

A Florida lawyer was arrested and accused of attacking a senior on board a Norwegian Cruise Line ship.

Phillip Ortiz, 38, was on the Norwegian Encore docked in Miami last Saturday when he tried to enter a hallway that was closed off the passengers at the time, according to an arrest report cited by multiple news outlets.

An unnamed 67-year-old man told police that he told Ortiz not to go into the restricted area. “Who the f*** are you to tell me what I can and can’t do?” Ortiz told the senior before pushing him, according to the report.

The elderly man told police that as he tried to push Ortiz away, a woman, identified in court as Ortiz’s wife, pushed him as well. Ortiz then became “enraged” and continued to attack him, authorities said.

The senior then went into the restricted hallway and tried to push the doors to the area closed to keep Ortiz out, according to the report.

Ortiz managed to get the door open and allegedly charged at the elderly man. As the struggle continued, Ortiz tripped the elderly man, who landed on his head with the lawyer’s “full body weight,” the report said.

The senior went unconscious, and Ortiz left him there without trying to help him, according to the report.

Fellow passengers stepped in to perform CPR on the elderly man, and he was later taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The ship’s nurses and security were also called to attend to the incident.

Ortiz was arrested and charged with aggravated battery on a person 65 or older. At a court hearing Monday, a judge downgraded the charge to just battery on an elderly person.

“There’s nothing indicating the Vic has permanent injuries,” Judge Mindy Glazer said, per NBC 6 South Florida.

Ortiz’s attorney, Stephan Lopez, said, per WSVN, “My client vehemently denies that he is the primary aggressor,” and told the judge Ortiz and his wife suffered minor injuries from the incident.

The Independent has reached out to Lopez for comment.

Ortiz was granted bond, but Glazer said he must have no contact with the elderly man.

According to his online biography, Ortiz specializes in state and federal commercial and civil litigation at The Firm Law Group. He is in good standing with the Florida Bar, to which he was admitted in 2012.