Alabama boat brawl: Cops name three white men who sparked vicious riverside fight as Richard Roberts, Allen Todd and Zachary Shipman
- Chief of police Darryl Albert said the incident occurred after a private boat owner and his family took the designated docking space for the tourist vessel
- His department conferred with the FBI and declined filing hate crime charges
- Three suspects – all white men – have been charged for assault: Richard Roberts, 48, Alan Todd, 23, and Zachary Shipman, 25
- READ MORE: Jim Kittrell, the captain of the Harriot II, earlier shared his story
Alabama authorities have released the names of some of the men involved in the now-infamous brawl that erupted on Saturday night at Montgomery’s Riverfront Park.
Chief of police Darryl Albert said the incident occurred after a private boat owner and his family took the designated docking space for the Harriot, a tourist vessel that takes passengers up and down the Alabama river.
Albert said 13 people were detained at the scene. Three suspects – all white men – have been charged for assault: Richard Roberts, 48, Alan Todd, 23, and Zachary Shipman, 25.
They have been instructed to turn themselves in and only one is in custody, The other two are set to turn themselves in on Tuesday.
Police have also asked to speak with Reggie Gray, the black man who was seen throwing a folding chair. He has not been charged.
Three suspects – all white men – have been charged for assault: Richard Roberts, 48, Alan Todd, 23, and Zachary Shipman, 25 (far left)
Police have also asked to speak with Reggie Gray, the black man who was seen throwing a folding chair. He has not been charged
Chief of police Darryl Albert said the incident occurred after a private boat owner and his family took the designated docking space for the Harriot, a tourist vessel
The Harriot’s captain waited over 40 minutes as he tried to contact the private boat owners via his PA system, chief Albert said.
The private boat passengers reportedly only responded with obscene gestures and cuss words.
The chief said violence erupted when a passenger of the private boat attacked the riverboat’s lead deckhand.
He added his department conferred with the FBI and declined filing hate crime charges.
The investigation is ongoing and more charges are likely
There were 227 passengers aboard the vessel when the incident happened.
Albert asked for the public to send additional videos or evidence regarding the brawl.
Earlier on Tuesday, Jim Kittrell, the captain of the Harriot II, shared a similar story to the one provided by the chief of police.
He claimed he and his crew had previous issues with the pleasure craft boaters before violence erupted on Saturday at Montgomery’s Riverfront Park.
Speaking on Alabama’s 93.1 radio station, he explained that he had been trying to dock the vessel but was unable to because the pontoon boat had already taken the spot.
And it was not the first time the crew encountered the boaters, who once even stole one of their golf carts, according to Kittrell.
Jim Kittrell, the captain of the Harriot II, claimed he and his crew had previous issues with the the pleasure craft boaters before violence erupted on Saturday at Montgomery’s Riverfront
There were 227 passengers aboard the vessel when the incident happened
‘One point I do want to make, this was not a black and white thing,’ he said.
‘I had every single white crew member male on the boat was on the dock.
‘This was our crew upset about these idiots. This is the same group that comes every year. They’re from Selma. And we’ve had trouble with them in the past, but just like jokey things.
‘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.’
As DailyMail.com previously reported, the public and local media had previously identified Shipman as one of the men involved in the brawl.
Shipman, the owner of Vasser’s Mini Mart in Selma, received backlash after posting video of the brawl online, claiming he tried to get away from it, as reported by the Selma Times-Journal.
He wrote: ‘I am sure most of you have seen the news about the riverboat incident. Yes, I was there but I was the first to try to get away.
‘I realize I have a business to run and represent and no charges were filed against me because I was not involved,’ Shipman claimed
‘You can see in the video I attached, and I do not condone what happened. I tried to stop it and realized that I could not, so I tried to get away. There is a video of me being the first to run away because what was happening was wrong and I did not want to be a part of it.
‘I realize I have a business to run and represent and no charges were filed against me because I was not involved.’
But commenters said the footage showed Shipman was more involved than he was admitting to, and have started flooding his business page with bad reviews.
DailyMail.com made several attempts to contact Vasser’s Mini Mart but the phone appears to have been disconnected.
Footage of the incident shows Shipman was one of the people detained at the scene.
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