Some at Inlet boat parade get in fight
Last Updated on 3/17/2010
Published on 7/5/2009
By Scott Harper
sharper@gtowntimes.com
The end of the annual Murrells Inlet Boat Parade turned violent for a large group of party-goers Saturday resulting in an injury to a county deputy.
Assistant Sheriff Carter Weaver said things started to get out of hand on the point -- an area along the southern tip of Garden City Beach --at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday when a number of the hundreds gathered in that area began fighting.
It's unknown exactly how many people were crammed into the small area but Sheriff Lane Cribb said it could have been as many as 1,000.
There were not that many people fighting but there was enough that there was concern it could have exploded into a riot, Weaver said.
Weaver said the department's Marine Patrol Unit -- already in the area because of the parade -- was the first on the scene.
"There was a lot of pushing and shoving going on. People had been seen drinking all day," Weaver said. "There were a lot of people in a very small area."
More than a dozen officers from both Georgetown and Horry counties raced to the scene after hearing an officer had been injured.
Deputy John Magann, part of the Marine Patrol, suffered an ankle injury when he fell while running towards the crowd, Weaver said. He was taken by boat to Marlin Quay Marina and was then transported to the hospital by ambulance.
He was treated for the injury and released.
"We had been monitoring that area all day because of the large crowd. People had been drinking all day," Weaver said. "Our first goal was to disperse the crowd."
He said no arrests were made.
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So why weren't they arrested for drinking in public? Obviously the cops saw it to be able to say they were drinking. That is a law isn't it? Posted by Like It Is on 7/6/2009 |
