Alabama Boat Brawl Update: Two More Suspects Arrested

Two additional suspects have been arrested on misdemeanor assault charges in the Montgomery, Alabama, weekend boat melee.

Allen Todd, 23, and Zachery "Chase" Shipman, 25, turned themselves in to police on Wednesday, according to a spokesperson for Montgomery police, who spoke with The Birmingham News. They are being held in the Montgomery Municipal Jail.

In total, three men have been charged in the brawl, as Richard Roberts, 48, on Tuesday also turned himself in to authorities.

A video of the fight attracted national attention over the weekend, which captured a Black dock worker being assaulted by a group of white passengers of a pontoon boat who were attempting to dock near Montgomery Riverfront Park. The brawl ignited after the worker attempted to move the private pontoon, which was blocking public riverboat Harriott II from docking in its designated space.

Four warrants have been issued in the melee. Police have yet to interview 42-year-old Reggie Gray, read the report from The Birmingham News. Gray was described by Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert to be the Black man "wielding" a folding chair and hitting a woman over the head.

Newsweek reached out to the Montgomery Police Department via email Wednesday night for more information.

Montgomery police previously told Newsweek that officers responded to calls about a disturbance about 7 p.m. Saturday at the 200 block of Coosa Street. Upon arrival, officers "located a large group of subjects engaged in a physical altercation."

In one video that captured the exchange, a shirtless white man is shown shoving and hitting the riverboat crew member who was attempting to move the pontoon boat that was blocking the way. Additional people eventually joined in the fight, tackling the Black riverboat worker to the ground and attacking him.

According to Jim Kittrell, captain of the Harriott II, riverboat workers have encountered those involved in the brawl in the past. While speaking with News & Views with Joey Clark on Alabama's 93.1 radio station Monday, Kittrell said that the group on the pontoon boat "comes every year."

"They're from Selma and we've had trouble with them in the past, but just like jokey things," Kittrell said. "Like, a couple of years ago, this same group was here. We came back from a cruise and our golf cart was missing [...] we finally found it in the Hampton Inn lobby. We looked at the Hampton Inn video. Found out who did it and we had them come down."

"We were going to press charges then, but the police talked us out of it," he added.

Update 08/09/23, 11:32 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and background.