3 boaters arrested after melee on dock

[JohnR]

http://www.projo.com/cgi-bin/story.pl/news/06063391.htm

8.27.2001 00:41
3 boaters arrested after melee on dock
BLOCK ISLAND -- Three men who fought with other boaters over a plastic chair were arrested early yesterday morning after they ran from the police, wrecked their boat on a rock and swam ashore.

Mark Sutherland, 34, and his brother, Joe, 22, both from Swansea, and Kyle Worthen, 22, of Barrington, were charged with disorderly conduct. A fourth man, John Deraimo, 41, was also charged with disorderly conduct.

Around 2 a.m., six men -- including those arrested -- began fighting on the town dock in Old Harbor "over a $12 plastic chair that didn't belong to any of them," said Police Chief William McCombe.

Several men fell in the water during the melee, which ended just after Police Officer Joseph DeMatteo arrived at the dock in response to a 2:26 a.m. call.

A rescue crew transported John and Nicholas Deraimo, both of Foster, to the medical center, where they were treated for minor injuries.

But Worthern and the Sutherlands fled the harbor in a 22-foot Grady-White sports fishing boat, despite orders from DeMatteo to stay put. "They were bumping off piers," McCombe said.

The three men headed for the mainland, then turned back to the east side of the island, where they struck a rock and took on water, McCombe said.

They called 911 -- and got the island police.

"They abandoned their boat and started swimming. When they arrived on shore, they were met by the Police Department," McCombe said. The boat washed ashore about a half mile away, near North Light, he said.

UH - Drinking maybe??