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New Shoreham, Rhode Island (WPRI) — Liquor and entertainment licenses for a popular tourist destination on Block Island were suspended due to a chaotic weekend earlier this month.
After hearing hours of testimony, New Shoreham’s licensing committee voted Monday night to suspend the Ballard Beach Resort’s permit for two weeks. The board agreed that Ballard allowed the venue to become chaotic, hosted an event with insufficient security and posed a threat to public health and safety on Monday, Aug. 8.
Ballard hosted a reggae festival that day, during which a fight broke out that was caught on camera and led to the arrest of one person.
Later that night, there was another brawl aboard a ferry that was bringing people back to the mainland.police said Two injured, seven others arrested.
RI State Police Capt. Peter Chabot Appointed as interim chief of the new Shoreham Police Department Back in June, he was the first to come out on Monday. Ballard was overwhelmed by the number of security guards and thousands of customers, some of whom jumped over the fence to enter, he said.
When the event was over, the ferry was “massively evacuated,” Chabot said. He estimated there were more than 3,000 people in line and said most were “hot, tired and frustrated”.
“Extremely chaotic, turbulent,” Chabot said, describing the scene. “There were several spats in the queue, several verbal spats, several physical spats.”
Ballard’s boss, Steven Filippi, also testified that the event didn’t have a lot of publicity and that he brought extra security. He said the reggae festival “has never had a problem in the past six years” and it’s a shame a few have ruined other people’s events.
At one point, Philippi blocked the entrance with his body to prevent more people from entering, said Brian LaPlante, an attorney representing Ballard.
State police said they had people on the island and on the ferry that night, but the fight took place on an unscheduled ferry that worked late to help disperse the crowd.
“We had soldiers on every ferry that was leaving,” Chabot said. “For the last two ferries, we didn’t have people on board, so there were six police officers on the last two ferries, more than 1,000 people.”
Following the events of that weekend, Ballard cancels Roots & Rhythm Festival Scheduled for August 21st.
New Shoreham Town livestreamed Monday’s hearing YouTube page.
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