Reports: Speedo Sparks Slur, Attack On Married Male Couple Near Key West

Two Florida people described in a local newspaper as "squatters" attacked a newly married male couple from Hollywood, California, hurling an anti-gay epithet and slashing at them with a knife, reports say.

Local Hollywood news outlet Wehoville reports that the couple, Jeff Pellissier and Keith Miller, were recently wed.

The alleged perpetrators, Christopher Thomas John Yarema and Stephanie Lynn Burnham, reportedly launched the attack in shallow water just off Wisteria Island, an undeveloped islet near Key West, according to The Miami Herald, which also reports that the island has become "a makeshift community by the homeless."

But to Pellissier and Miller, Wisteria Island was an ideal spot for land and water based activities during a relaxing day in the sun.

Then the alleged attackers arrived.

"I heard loud people in a skiff coming toward the island, and I mentioned to Keith, 'I hope they're not going to be landing near us, they sound noisy, they sound a bit drunk,' " Pellissier told NBC News. "We started to put things away in the boat because I thought something might be happening, so I wanted to be ready."

But nothing could have prepared the newlyweds for what reportedly happened when the suspects arrived. According to Pellissier, Yarema began berating them, screaming, "Hey, Speedo man, what are you doing here," and going on to order the men to "get the fuck off my island, you fag!"

Miller said that the men tried to de-escalate the situation but, reports say, they became physically violent, with Burhman punching Pellissier and attacking him with an oar. Yarema produced a knife, reports said, and went for Miller, who used an inflatable dinghy as a barrier to fend off the attack. Yarema allegedly plunged the knife into the dinghy while trying to stab Miller. Yarema then continued to stab at the dinghy, which began losing air.

The married couple managed to get away in the dinghy and headed for their rented boat. Once aboard, they used the boat's radio to summon the authorities. Yarema and Burnham were placed under arrest by the Coast Guard and face multiple charges, including assault with a deadly weapon.