CULLMAN, Ala. – The Cullman Police Department at a press conference Wednesday, July 26, announced the arrests of three individuals in relation to the assault that took place Saturday, July 22, at Rock the South. The victim, Reid Watts, 18, whose brutal beating was captured on video that was shared widely on social media, was admitted to Cullman Regional after the assault but has since been released.
According to Cullman Police Chief David Nassetta, William Jospeh Vinson Jr., 20, of Harvest, Alabama; Zachary Scott Taylor, 21, of Athens, Alabama; and Chance Marcus Alan Starling, 20, of Toney, Alabama, were arrested Tuesday evening. All three are charged with second-degree assault, a Class C felony. All three have since made bond.
“After we were notified of the assault formally Sunday afternoon, we began our investigation. A good deal of our investigation involved help from the public via social media in naming the individuals they recognized on the video,” Nassetta said. “After we were able to get a rough idea of who they were we really dug in to make sure the people that were on the video were the ones who people had named. That took a couple of days to do and then we were able to obtain warrants yesterday.”
Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker spoke briefly about the efforts of local law enforcement and the public in identifying those involved, as well as the legal process of this case going forward.
“I just want to commend these officers of the Cullman Police Department as well as the public, the Rock the South organization as well as the statewide media for their involvement in assisting law enforcement in this situation,” Crocker said. “At some point in the future, these cases will be presented to a grand jury, and a grand jury can sustain the charges that we currently have, or they can amend the charges as they see fit. We are very early in this process, but we will continue to work diligently along with our law enforcement. My first call with Chief Nassetta was on Sunday, and I appreciate the efforts of everyone involved in this.”
Rock the South’s Nathan Baugh also gave a statement on the response of law enforcement and the assistance they received from the public in finding the assailants in this case:
“I, alongside two other Cullman natives, own and produce Rock the South, and while we are definitely full-time concert promoters, we most importantly are all fathers of young children and two of us live and work here every day. Like you, we were absolutely disgusted and appalled at the cowardly actions of a few individuals at our festival last weekend,” Baugh said. “Rock the South welcomed almost 105,000 people to Cullman. We had hundreds of police, fire, security and EMS officers on site. It was the largest crowd we’ve ever had with the fewest amount of arrests. I want to emphasize wholeheartedly that this behavior is neither widespread nor common at any of our events.”
He continued, “I want to commend Investigator Trey Higginbotham and his team, the Cullman Police Department and the Cullman County District Attorney’s Office, on the excellent job they did to quickly arrest the assailants. On Sunday we immediately offered a $10,000 reward plus lifetime tickets to Rock the South for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for the assault on people in our family. Our team has worked hand in hand with the CPD and their investigations team to share any festival data we could to help in the pursuit of these cowards. I want to thank our Rock the South family for their pictures, videos and comments identifying those who are involved that were sent to our channels and the Cullman City Police Department.
“Rock the South was an event built upon the importance of community. We are proud of how our fans have come through once again. How quickly our festival attendees responded, combined with the outstanding work of local law enforcement, is absolutely incredible. Our team has always valued the safety of our Rock the South family. We’ve successfully welcomed almost one million fans to a Rock the South event in Cullman over the past 11 years. Moving forward, we hope that this sad and disappointing incident is a reminder that this type of behavior will never be tolerated at Rock the South. We are looking forward to an incredible 2024 Rock the South and a great partnership with the people on stage long term.”
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