More than 50 arrested during Orange Crush event at Tybee Island, police say

During the Tybee Island Orange Crush event, where thousands were expected to gather over the weekend, police said they made more than 50 arrests over just three days.

According to the Tybee Island Police Department, 54 people were arrested from April 19 to April 21.

The event itself was the subject of some controversy, as previously reported by Channel 2′s ABC affiliate WJCL.

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While 100,000 were expected to arrive for the event, local residents told WJCL that the event did not have permits.

Additionally, the main promoter of the Orange Crush beach party said in March that the event would not happen in 2024.

Channel 2 Action News had reported earlier that the annual days-long party was originally scheduled for April 18 to April 21, but George Ramson Turner III, who has owned Orange Crush since 2006, told WJCL-TV that he’s not hosting the event this year. Instead, the event officially had moved to Jacksonville, Fla.

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Turner also said he had not hosted an event for the past five years in Georgia, but others had used the Orange Crush name.

More than a week before the event started, Tybee Island Mayor Brian West shared a post by state Sen. Ben Watson and Rep. Jesse Petrea, both of Savannah, that said state lawmakers and leaders had enacted what they called a “nuisance law” aimed at allowing local governments to hold unpermitted event promoters accountable for costs afterward.

The legislation, Senate Bill 443, was signed into law on April 8.

During the event 10 days later, police arrested 54 people, issued 111 traffic citations, five beach citations, had reported 526 calls for service, recovered one stolen vehicle and recovered three stolen firearms.

Tybee police also confirmed “that a pursuit began on Tybee Island, and ended after a Precision Immobilization Technique (P.I.T.) was utilized. However, that incident falls under the jurisdiction of the Georgia State Patrol. As a result, our agency will not be providing further details.”

The report by the department came “due to the high profile nature of last weekend’s events, coupled with international media coverage” and multiple requests for department activity during Orange Crush.

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