Deadliest Catch Freddy Maugatai - H 2012
Rick Gershon/Discovery ChannelDeadliest Catch star Feleti “Freddy” Maugatai is in hot water after being arrested on Dec. 16 during a bathroom brawl.
The star of Discovery Channel’s gritty crab fishing show was arrested on Dec. 16 after being involved in a conflict at the Grand Aleutian Hotel, according to the police blotter report in The Dutch Harbor Telegraph.
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Feleti allegedly was involved in a fight in a bathroom where put a man into a headlock and then shoved the man’s wife when she tried to intervene. He was arrested and charged with assault in the fourth degree on Dec. 19, according to court documents.
Feleti reportedly told a judge that he was simply defending himself and that he did not start the fight, according to a complaint obtained by TMZ.
A rep for The Discovery Channel had no comment on the incident.
Maugatai, a Somoan, has been a deckhand on both the Cornelia Marie and the Wizard, two of the crab fishing ships featured on the Discovery Channel show.
“Freddy incorporates Samoan traditions into his fishing routine. He eats cod hearts and other fish organs ‘for strength,’ and shouts out native Samoan blessings to invoke the fishing Gods,” reads his bio on the show’s website. He’s also credited for being “tough as coffin nails.”
