Two participants in the Alabama boat-dock brawl that went viral around the globe this past summer have been sentenced — one to jail and the other to anger-management classes.
Richard Roberts, 48 who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault rap for his role in the violent fracas, was ordered to serve 32 days behind bars along with 100 hours of community service. He will also have to pay court costs.
Mary Todd, 21, copped to a misdemeanor harassment charge and will enroll in anger-management courses as part of a plea deal. She will also be on the hook for court costs related to her case.
Three additional defendants — Allen Todd, 24, Zachary Shipman, 26, and Reggie Ray, 42 — have yet to resolve their cases.
Todd and Shipman were hit with third-degree assault charges, while Ray — who used a folding chair during the fight — faces a disorderly conduct rap.
Mary Todd copped to a misdemeanor harassment charge in connection with the brawl that broke out on the Montgomery waterfront. Montgomery PD
Richard Roberts landed jail time for his role. Montgomery PD/MEGA
Allen Todd faces third-degree assault charges. Montgomery PD/MEGA
Reggie Ray wielded a folding chair during the brawl. Montgomery PD/MEGA
Zachary Shipman also faces third-degree assault raps in the fight. Montgomery PD/MEGAThe melee was sparked when a tourist riverboat carrying 227 passengers was unable to dock in August because a private pontoon boat was parked in its space, Montgomery cops said at the time.
The riverboat’s co-captain, Damien Pickett, asked over a public-address system for the occupants of the pontoon boat to move but was blown off with profanity and obscene gestures.
Pickett was then ferried to the dock in an attempt to speak to the pontoon boat’s passengers in person and was attacked after further words were exchanged.
Several of Pickett’s co-workers on the riverboat jumped to his defense as stunned onlookers watched the brawl deteriorate, with bystanders joining the fray.
The brawl expanded after bystanders jumped in. Twitter
Riverboat co-captain Damien Pickett was attacked on the docks. via NBCA witness told police that the occupants of the pontoon boat used racial slurs during the assault against Pickett, who is black.
But prosecutors declined to hit the assailants with hate-crime raps, and Pickett himself told investigators that he didn’t believe race played a role in the incident.
A white teen dock worker who accompanied Pickett during his attempt to speak to the boat’s passengers was also beaten, officials noted.
Footage of the melee quickly went viral around the world. Getty Images“It’s important for us to understand that there was a young white dock worker or someone who worked on the boat who also tried to help and who was attacked as well,” Montgomery mayor Steven Reed said after the footage went viral.
The city’s police chief, who is black, said the case was thoroughly vetted.
“Knowing Montgomery’s history, knowing all the civil-rights things that we went through here in the city of Montgomery and what the means to the nation, we were very amped-up to get this right,” Chief Darryl Albert said.
