For the third-straight weekend, deputies with the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office were summoned to Hard Labor Creek State Park on July 8 to deal with unruly guests engaged in what appeared to be an alcohol-fueled brawl.
Four of those involved were arrested on disorderly conduct charges, including Christian Johnson, 37, of Covington, Michael Johnson, 19, of Covington, Douglas Myers, 54, of Covington, and Michael Dickerson, 36, of Lithonia.
According to Deputy Thomas Ptak, the scene was chaotic when he arrived, and Sgt. Chase Young and Sgt. Chad Lanier were trying to separate people involved in fights.
Ptak said he learned that Christian Johnson and Michael Johnson had been involved in a fight with Dickerson, and one of Dickerson’s teeth had been broken.
The Johnsons told Ptak that Myers, who was “hanging out on the beach together” with Dickerson, pulled out a knife and began behaving aggressively toward them.
A witness said she pulled out her phone to record the chaos and was attacked by Christian Johnson for no reason at all. Ptak said he later viewed a video that showed Johnson attacking the witness.
Another witness claimed the Johnsons ganged up on Dickerson while another witness said Dickerson started the fight.
Dickerson told Deputy Bo Kelly that the fight started when his son got into an argument with a man at the park and the man’s female companion slapped his son’s hat off his head.
That led to a confrontation between Dickerson and the man, who then hit Dickerson in the face three times, according to the report, which caused damage to his tooth.
Dickerson was so enraged when Kelly arrived that the deputy was forced to TASE him three times to de-escalate the situation.
All four were subsequently taken to the Morgan County jail and processed.
Ptak said that while he was transporting Christian Johnson to the jail, she had several violent outbursts and started “screaming, cursing, kicking the front cabin of the patrol vehicle and striking the plexiglass divider.”
Captain Brandon Sellers of the MCSO said that his agency will be working with the Department of Natural Resources, State Parks, and Historic Sites Division to increase a law-enforcement presence at Hard Labor Creek to deter further incidents of this type.
Deputies said that the participants in the fight all appeared to be intoxicated, despite a rule at Hard Labor Creek that prohibits the consumption of alcohol in the beach area.