Montgomery riverboat brawl suspect apologizes, to co-captain, teen: âWe could be friendsâ
A Dallas County man pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor assault charges for his part in a violent brawl that erupted at Montgomery’s Riverfront Park in August.
Richard Roberts, 48, pleaded guilty after two hours of testimony in Montgomery Municipal Court.
Under the agreement, Roberts received a four-month suspended sentence. Of that, he will serve 32 days in jail in Perry County, with that time to be served on weekends. The sentence also calls for 100 hours of community service and court costs.
After the plea agreement, Roberts apologized in court to the victims, Harriott II Co-captain Dameion Pickett, and a 16-year-old boy who was also an employee on the river boat.
Cases against two other defendants in the incident were postponed on Friday.
Allen Todd and Zachery “Chase” Shipman are both charged with one count of third-degree assault.
Mary Todd was not in court but pleaded guilty to harassment.
Another defendant in the incident, Reggie Ray, seen wielding a folding chair in the melee, was charged with disorderly conduct.
Ray is Black; the other defendants are white. All of the defendants had pleaded not guilty.
The viral Aug. 5 fight started when crew members of the Harriott II were unable to dock the cruise boat because the pontoon boat from Selma was in the way.
Harriott II Co-captain Pickett, a Black man, along with a 16-year-old white young man, were victims in the charges involving the pontoon boat occupants.
The teen’s mother, Crystal Warren, who obtained the warrant on behalf of her son, had 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.
Ray’s lawyer, Lee Merritt, told Good Morning America in September that attack on the riverboat workers was racial.
But in court Friday, Warren testified that she did not hear Roberts use a racial slur.
Pickett was in the courtroom but did not testify. Pickett did not stop to speak to reporters as he left the municipal court building.
Pickett, Warren, and Warren’s 16-year-old son stood in front of the judge along with Roberts and the attorneys when the plea deal was announced. Roberts’ attorney, Richard White, asked Roberts if he had a statement.
Roberts told Pickett he was sorry.
“I think under different circumstances we could be friends,” Roberts told Pickett. “You might not think so.”
“I know you were doing your job,” Roberts said.
White, Roberts’ attorney, said the apology was not part of the plea agreement.
“I think that came from the heart,” White said. “It wasn’t rehearsed. We didn’t talk about it. It was not part of the plea agreement. He said what he said. Personally, I think he said it pretty well.”
White said the plea agreement was fair.
“I’m glad we got this resolved,” White said. “I appreciate the city of Montgomery. I think this is a great way to move on from this unfortunate incident. I appreciate the city of Montgomery and the court system being fair today and working this out.”
Roberts told the 16-year-old he did not intend to hit him after he saw how young he was. He said he tried to stop the punch.
“I didn’t mean to hit you,” Roberts said.
Testimony indicated that Roberts turned and threw the punch when the boy approached a group that was beating Pickett. The boy said his intention was to pull somebody off the pile.
The boy and his mother testified that went to the Prattville Baptist emergency room and was found to have a rib contusion. The boy said he received a prescription for ibuprofen and the pain subsided after about a month.
White said Roberts’ wife is the alleged victim who was struck by a chair wielded by Ray, who is charged with disorderly conduct.
“He is innocent until proven guilty. But the allegations are she did get hit by a chair by an individual down there,” White said.
White said it is his understanding that Roberts’ wife could have and signed a warrant for an assault charge instead of the disorderly conduct.
“She did not do that,” White said. “She does not plan on doing that. And I think that’s good. The sooner we get all this behind us, the sooner we can all move on with all of our lives.”
White said it was important to note that none of the witnesses heard a racial slur from Roberts.
“I think it is important that he pled to two assault threes,” White said.
“Had nothing to do with race. It was (what) I call a bar fight. And he was wrong. He took acceptance of that. He apologized to them. And y’all heard what you heard. But throughout the testimony today, it was clear that there was nothing racial that ever came from my client, or his wife, at all.”
This story will be updated.