Couple accused of attacking gay tourists

After a day of snorkeling and walking on a small uninhabited island off Key West, two tourists were preparing to leave when they were attacked by a man and a woman shouting anti-gay slurs, according to investigators.

The two men from West Hollywood, Calif., were visiting Wisteria Island — once known as Christmas Tree Island — on Saturday after piloting their large rental boat and its dinghy to the federally owned island located several hundred yards off the northwest corner of Key West.

It was about 4:30 p.m. as they were preparing to take the dinghy back to the larger boat when they noticed a small skiff heading their way, the Monroe County Sheriff ’s Office said.

“Get the (expletive) off our island,” they heard the two people shouting along with other sexual slurs and curse words, deputies said.

The people in the skiff would later be identified as Christopher Thomas John Yarema, 43, and Stephanie Lynn Burnham, 35, according to Adam Linhardt, spokesman for the sheriff ’s office.

“You have five seconds to get off, or I will kill you,” Burnham yelled, before smacking one of the two men in the face and them hitting him on the head with a boat oar, the sheriff’s office said. The man wasn’t seriously hurt but his $800 sunglasses were ruined.

After the man pushed Burnham away, Yarema came at him with a knife, according to deputies, and said, “You knocked down my wife, I’m going to kill you.”

As Yarema repeatedly came at the man with the four-inch-blade, the man’s partner pushed the dinghy between the two — causing Yarema to miss the visitor but slash the dinghy.

Though it was leaking, the two men used the small, inflatable vessel to get away and go back to their boat where they radioed for help, the sheriff ’s office said.

An arrest report indicated Yarema and Burnham may have gotten upset because one of the two visitors was wearing a Speedo-type bathing suit, WPLGCh. 10 reported

Yarema, a fisherman and roofer, is charged with aggravated assault and causing property damage, arrest records show. Burnham, a Key West laborer, is charged with battery and causing property damage.