A fourth person has turned herself in for her alleged involvement in the now-viral Montgomery riverfront brawl: Mary Todd.
The Montgomery Police Department announced that 21-year-old turned herself in on Thursday and was charged with assault in the third degree. She is currently being housed in the Municipal Jail, the police added.
She joins three other men who were arrested following the riverfront fight. It’s unclear whether she and Allen Todd, a 23-year-old man who turned himself in on Wednesday, are related.
Zachary Shipman, 25, also turned himself in on Wednesday night after police asked him and Mr Todd to turn themselves in no later than Tuesday. Richard Roberts, 48, was also held in custody in Selma as of Tuesday.
Police have previously said that the three men who were arrested were members of the pontoon boat, which was blocking the Harriott II riverboat from docking in its designated space. It’s unclear if Ms Todd was also onboard the pontoon boat.
After waiting 45 minutes to dock the Harriott II, which was carrying 227 passengers, and many calls over the PA system asking for the pontoon boat owners to move their boat, a senior deckhand approached them and gently asked them to move their vessel, according to the police chief on Tuesday.
However, the pontoon boat owners did not take it well, as a fight broke out, with one of the members of the pontoon boat throwing fists at the deckhand. The brawl only grew from there, including one man hitting people over the head with a folding chair.
The captain of the Harriott II said he believes this interaction was “racially motivated,” but the massive brawl that transpired afterward was not. Capt Jim Kitrell also noted earlier this week that he has had “trouble” with the pontoon boat owners in the past, and had considered pressing charges against them years ago, yet was talked out of it.
