Key West Couple Arrested Over Wisteria Island Boat Assault Of “Gay Tourists From Hollywood, Ca”

WISTERIA ISLAND, FL. (THECOUNT) — Key West couple, Christopher Thomas John Yarema and Stephanie Lynn Burnham, were arrested and charged with the aggravated assault of a pair of gay tourists boating in the Wisteria Island area.

The Key West couple was arrested Saturday after deputies said they attacked a pair of gay men from Hollywood, California, who were boating in a large rented vessel off Wisteria Island.

Yarema, 43, faces charges of aggravated assault and causing property damage, while Burnham, 35, faces charges of battery and causing property damage, according to authorities.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said, two gay men from Hollywood, California, had rented a large boat with a dinghy Saturday to explore the waters off Wisteria Island. Around 4 p.m., as the men prepared to leave, Yarema and Burnham approached the couple’s dinghy on a skiff and began yelling anti-gay slurs and other expletives, Linhardt said. One of them shouted “get the [expletive] off our island,” Linhardt said.

Before the men could leave, Yarema punched one of them in the face, Linhardt said. Burnham struck the same man on the head with a boat oar, Linhardt said.

The man pushed Burnham away, enraging Yarema, according to deputies.

“You knocked down my wife. I’m going to kill you,” Yarema reportedly told the victim. Yarema then pulled out a knife and began slashing at the tourists, Linhardt said. At one point, Yarema punctured the tourists’ dinghy with the knife, deputies said. source

The tourists managed to escape to their larger rental boat and radioed the U.S. Coast Guard for help, Linhardt said.

Anyone with possible information on the attack should contact police at 911.

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