A pair of suspects wanted for beating up a Black ferry co-captain and instigating a massive riverside brawl on Saturday in Montgomery, Alabama, finally surrendered to authorities on Wednesday night after a brief period on the lam.
The Montgomery Police Department confirmed to The Daily Beast that both Allen Todd, 23, and Zachery Shipman, 25, “turned themselves in to police today and have been charged with one count of Assault 3rd degree (Misdemeanor).”
The pair had seemingly refused to surrender for just over 24 hours, following a Tuesday press conference in which Montgomery Police Chief Darryl J. Albert said they were about to give themselves up imminently.
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When questioned by The Daily Beast, police would not go into further detail on their whereabouts during the period in which they were unaccounted for.
Richard Roberts, a 48-year-old also involved in the massive melee, turned himself in to the police on Tuesday in the nearby town of Selma. He faces two third-degree assault charges.
Richard Roberts
Montgomery PDAppearing on CNN This Morning early Wednesday, Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed confirmed that Shipman and Todd inexplicably didn’t turn themselves in to police in Selma as expected on Tuesday.
“And since they didn’t, we may have to go pick them up and give them a ride,” Reed said.
A Montgomery police spokesperson confirmed the duo were still at-large as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, but didn’t divulge other details, saying the “investigation is active and ongoing” and there were “no updates at this time.”
Albert said Tuesday that 13 people were detained after the brawl on Saturday but released shortly after because police didn’t have the wealth of video evidence that subsequently went viral online. He expects more charges will come after cops finish reviewing the dozens of videos taken of the incident.
Despite the brawl appearing to be divided on racial lines and witnesses suspecting race was a factor, Albert said Tuesday his investigators decided—to that point—they didn’t have enough evidence to file hate crime charges.
Albert said the brawl broke out after the trio of white men jumped Damien Pickett, a Black riverboat worker who’d “peacefully” asked the men to move their pontoon boat so the riverboat filled with passengers could dock in its reserved spot.
Citing court documents, CNN reported Wednesday that a witness told cops she heard Pickett’s assailants yelling the slur, “f--k that n---r” as they descended upon him.
As Pickett was being beaten, Albert said others came to his aid, with a full-out brawl breaking out in a matter of moments.
