Montgomery brawl defendants plead not guilty to charges; trial dates set
Two defendants charged in connection with last month’s brawl on Montgomery’s riverfront that went viral pleaded not guilty to the charges against them during their arraignments Friday.
After the pleas in Montgomery Municipal Court from Mary Todd and Richard Roberts on third-degree assault charges, all five brawl defendants have pleaded not guilty.
The three other defendants — Reggie Ray, Zachery Shipman and Allen Todd — waived their arraignments and pleaded not guilty on Wednesday through their attorneys.
Trials in all of the cases were scheduled for Oct. 27.
The viral Aug. 5 melee started when crew members of the Harriott II were unable to dock the cruise boat because a private pontoon boat was in the way.
A now-notorious melee ensued including punches and even a chair, all caught on multiple cell phone videos.
Ray, who is Black, was the only defendant not on the pontoon boat to be charged in the case.
The other four defendants are white and were on the pontoon boat. An attorney for three of them said it would be premature to comment on the case when his clients were charged.
All charges are misdemeanors and range from third-degree assault to disorderly conduct.
Harriott II Co-captain Dameion Pickett, 43, a Black man, along with a 16-year-old white young man, were victims in the charges involving the pontoon boat occupants.
According to a deposition in the charge against Ray, an officer observed Ray “wielding a white chair and swinging it towards an unknown subject.”
The officer, “was able to grab Ray and remove the chair from his hands.”
“Via body cam video footage seen (on August 9, 2023), Ray can be seen striking a white male wearing gray shorts and no shirt with the white chair several of times.”
Pickett said his attackers were drunk and threatened to kick his ass Saturday night, moments before the start of the now-notorious dock brawl.
“I told them, ‘No, you won’t,’’’ Pickett said in police records obtained.
“I told them, ‘Do what you gotta do. I’m just doing my job.”
When it was over, Pickett had suffered bruises to his ribs and knots on the back of his head and forehead.
A 16-year-old deckhand-in-training was also injured during the melee, the records state.
“He has bruised ribs,’’ said the teen’s mother, Crystal Warren, who obtained the warrant on behalf of her son. “He is really sore.”
Warren also noted in her police report that a racial slur was used against Pickett during the brawl.
“You could here (sic) men yelling ‘f–k that n—-r’ and the men came down to fight my son,” she wrote in her report.