A South African cruise ship worker was arrested in the Alaskan capital on Tuesday, accused of attacking a woman and two security guards aboard the ship with scissors, authorities said.
The US attorney's office says the man, identified as 35-year-old Ntando Sogoni, is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon within maritime and territorial jurisdiction. Online court records do not show an attorney for the 35-year-old.
According to an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Matthew Judy, the man was recently hired by a cruise line and joined the ship, the Norwegian Encore, in Seattle on Sunday. The ship departed that day for a week-long voyage with scheduled stops in Alaskan ports, including the capital Juneau and British Columbia.
The alleged incident happened west of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, while the ship was sailing toward Alaska. According to the affidavit, during Sunday afternoon, ship personnel saw the man attempting to deploy a lifeboat and he was safely transported to a medical facility for evaluation.
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While there, he “became irrational and attempted to leave” and “physically attacked” a guard and a nurse, according to the affidavit. He ran into another room, where he grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed a woman being examined as well as two guards who tried to intervene before being subdued and held in a “shipboard jail,” the affidavit says. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening.
The boat arrived in Juneau on Tuesday, when it was arrested by the FBI, according to the US attorney's office.
If convicted, Sogoni faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence.
