Coast Guardsmen start drunken brawl in Melbourne

Popeye the Sailor was famous for fisticuffs, but a couple of Port Canaveral Coast Guardsmen were not so skilled.

The two men were arrested after starting -- and losing -- a drunken brawl with a Melbourne code enforcement officer on Sunday.

Tyler Moon, 19, and Colin Corbett, 20, were each charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and booked at the Brevard County Jail. Moon and Corbett are both active duty service members based out of USCG Station Port Canaveral.

At 12:30 a.m. Sunday, a Melbourne police officer on foot patrol in Downtown Melbourne was flagged down about a fight in progress.

Arriving in the 800 block of E New Haven Ave, the officer found Moon and Corbett lying on the ground and made contact with a City of Melbourne code enforcement officer.

The code enforcement officer advised police he went to check on the two men, who appeared extremely intoxicated. After a short conversation, Moon and Corbett attacked him.

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"I started to talk to the males and then I got punched in the head," the code enforcement officer said, according to arrest reports. "Then the other guy put me in a choke hold so I put them both on the ground."

Moon threw the punch and Corbett applied the choke hold, he told police.

Both men were still on the ground when a police officer attempted to question them. In response to questioning, they swore at the officer, reports state.

Police took the two men to Holmes Regional Medical Center for medical clearance and notified a ranking Coast Guard officer at Station Port Canaveral.

Moon and Corbett have both been released on $5,000 bond and are awaiting trial.

Contact Eric Rogers at 321-242-3717 and esrogers@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EricRogersFT.