Police arrest seven following Block Island Ferry fight
What’s been described as a brawl involving weapons on board the Block Island ferry Monday night as passengers traveled from the island to Galilee has led to the arrest of seven people, state police said.
Reports from passengers on the ferry said that it was crowded, and that many passengers were returning at about 9:30 p.m. to the mainland following a daylong reggae festival at Ballard’s Beach Resort.
In video posted online, a U.S. Coast Guard boat is shown approaching the moving ferry from its aft lower deck.
Several police officers then jump from the bow of the smaller boat onto the ferry to secure the scene.
State police, as well as police from Narragansett and North and South Kingstown, responded to the reported disturbance on the vessel, which is one of several operated by Interstate Navigation Ferry.
State police said two people were taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries.
Police took seven people into custody. Police took all to the Wickford Barracks, where they were arraigned in front of a justice of the peace and released with pending Fourth District Court dates.
Charged with disorderly conduct were: Michael Carvalho, 26, and Trent Manning, 32, both of Providence; Abdou Njie, 37, Miguel G. Silva, 36, and Deavon Silva, 20, all of Pawtucket.
Laurie R. Cassandra, 30, of Providence, was arraigned on the charge of obstructing an officer and Chevron R. Towns, 20, of Providence, was arraigned on the charge of weapons other than firearms prohibited.
Troopers were assigned to scheduled ferries throughout the night. The incident occurred on an unscheduled ferry that was added late due to overcrowding, police said.
An additional six troopers had been detailed to Block Island for the day to assist the New Shoreham Police Department in anticipation of large crowds at Ballard’s Beach Resort, according to police.
It was there at about 6:30 p.m. that troopers arrested Jacob Dorbor, 30, of Providence on a charge of disorderly conduct, also for fighting. Dorbor was later released with a pending Fourth District Court date.
The ferry operator issued a statement about the melee.
“Interstate Navigation acknowledges the poor behavior of several passengers on our departing ferry from Block Island on Monday night,” it said. “As per our protocols when anticipating a heavy volume of holiday travel, added security measures were put in place with the assistance of state and local police. We thank them and are continuing to work cooperatively with law enforcement to investigate the incident in order to assure safe passage for all our valued customers.”
The fracas comes a week after a woman in a vehicle allegedly led police on a chase along the Galilee Escape Road and rammed several cars, including police vehicles.
On Memorial Day weekend in 2021, a similar large contingent of police from several departments responded to Narragansett Town Beach to break up a fight among dozens of people. That brawl resulted in eight arrests.