Man arrested after in-flight groping allegation on Key West flight
A Key West-bound flight ended with deputies meeting the plane on the tarmac after witnesses reported a woman had been groped midair.
A Key West-bound flight turned into a battery arrest as soon as the plane landed, after witnesses said a man in his 60s grabbed a woman’s breast and then her thigh while the aircraft was still en route to Key West International Airport.
Monroe County authorities identified the suspect as John Gregory Duffy, 61, of Gresham, Oregon. He was arrested on May 16, 2026, after the flight reached Key West, and one report said he was booked on a misdemeanor battery charge, listed as battery-touch or strike. Another account said deputies met the aircraft on the tarmac and took him into custody immediately after landing.
The case shows how quickly an in-flight complaint can move from a cabin report to a criminal arrest in Monroe County. In this incident, witnesses on board helped create a record of what happened before the plane touched down, which gave law enforcement a basis to respond as soon as the aircraft arrived at Key West International Airport. For travelers, that chain of reporting matters: problems in the air do not stay in the air, especially on a short commercial route into the Keys where deputies can be waiting at the airport.
Key West International Airport is the main commercial gateway to the Florida Keys, and the traffic there keeps rising. The airport handled 1,449,649 passengers in 2024, up 9.7% from 2023, and December 2024 was its best December on record with 143,606 passengers. March 2024 was also a record month, with 161,560 passengers. That volume makes every disturbance on a flight into Key West a public-safety issue as well as a criminal allegation, because the airport serves tourists, workers and residents moving through a relatively small and highly visible facility.
At least one report said Duffy was issued a $5,000 bond. The arrest now places the case in the Monroe County court system, where any later hearings or dispositions will move through the normal judicial process. The alleged conduct, the witness reports and the rapid handoff from the aircraft to deputies are the kind of details that shape how airport misconduct cases are handled in the Keys, where air travel is essential and even a single cabin complaint can become a matter for local law enforcement within minutes.
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