Nine people ended up in jail following an early morning brawl at the Austin Park on the east end of Broadway Street Sunday, Jan. 19.
Police from three departments were called in to break up the melee.
Officers received calls around 1:30 a.m. of a fight at the city park.
Jailed on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct were:
•John Baker Sr., 53, of Austin
•John Baker Jr., 24, Austin
•Meleana Baker, 46, Austin
•Braden Bryant, 18, of Austin
•Christal Shipley, 30, Austin
•David Shipley, 31, Austin
•Erlina Sizemore, 46, Austin
•Malachi Sutton, 22, Austin
•Vernon White, 19, Austin
Austin Police Officer Joshua Vires was the first to arrive and attempted to calm the crowd.
According to the court probable cause affidavit, Vires reported that Braden Bryant and Vernon White had some disagreement and agreed to meet at the Austin Park to fight.
Others, upon hearing about the impending fisticuff, went to the park to attempt to break up any melee or protect family members.
Vires reported that according to Erlina Sizemore she had received a call that Bryant and White were going to fight at the Austin Park and that she, John Baker Jr, John Baker Sr, Christal Shipley, David Shipley, and Meleana Baker got into their vehicles and went to the Austin Park.
According to APD Officer Anthony White, Sizemore and Meleana Baker reported that came to stop the fight but the kerfuffle “turned into a yelling and screaming match.”
When White ask the women why they did not call the police instead of trying to handle the mater themselves, the women told the officer “they were not snitches”.
According to the court document, Officer White told the women “You two loaded up two vehicles and drove to a fight which turned into a 9-person altercation at a closed public park.”
According to White they stated “Yeah, I guess we did, and it never crossed our minds to contact the Police because that’s not how we were “brought up”.”
According to the court document, Malachi Sutton was actively trying to fight in police presence. Sutton explained, “They called my boy a bitch, I need to put hands on them.”
There was no reason given for what prompted the initial altercation between Bryant and White.
All nine were booked into Scott County Jail for disorderly conduct and released after posting a $500 cash bond.