This article was originally published in The Examiner on March 30, 2017.
By Eleanor Skelton
Staff Writer
One man was arrested and another man was seriously wounded in a fight on Crystal Beach during spring break weekend that the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office said involved about 75 to 100 people.
Galveston County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Major Douglas Hudson said several officers were on patrol at Crystal Beach on Saturday, March 18, “like we do during spring break every year.”
Officers reported that a crowd of about 75 to 100 people were “running around trying to fight,” Hudson said.
Three deputies tried to break up the fight.
The deputies took a man into custody that they thought was the aggressor, Hudson said. According to two witnesses at the scene, this man caused the fight, but other witnesses said that he was just defending himself.
They arrested Bruce Williams, 23. Williams was under the influence and behaving strangely and resisted arrest, Hudson said.
“[But] he was never identified as assaulting anyone,” he said.
Williams told officers that someone in the crowd had punched his wife.
“He kept putting his hand in the deputies’ face,” Hudson said. “He resisted and eventually had to be tazed to gain control of him.”
On Tuesday, March 21, someone called Galveston County Sheriff’s Office about another person injured in the brawl, Hudson said.
The victim’s father told police his son was being seen by doctors at the University of Texas Galveston Hospital after he was injured in the March 18 fight.
“Apparently someone walked up and punched him in the face, blindsided him, which caused injuries to his facial area,” Hudson said.
Police have found a potential suspect that may have instigated the fight, but investigators are trying to locate cellphone footage and more witnesses.
The cause of the fight and the people involved are still under investigation.
Eleanor Skelton 