Early yesterday morning, a fight broke out on a party yacht at the South Street Seaport and spilled onto land, leading to a man being killed in a parking lot. Now more details have emerged: The ship's co-owner told the Daily News, "I've heard 20 different versions for how this started, and they all start the same, that it was over a woman."
The 1 a.m.-till-5 a.m. party, thrown by a party promoter, aboard the Atlantica Yacht. The ship was supposed to set sail, but the ship's captain Dennis Miano said, "They brought on 555 people. We shut off the engines and said, 'We can't leave. We have to stay on the dock,'" at Pier 17. Indeed—the Atlantica may be a "three level multi million dollar mega yacht," but its website clearly states it's only "USCG certified to carry up to 400 guests." The Post describes how the festivities unraveled: "One overzealous partygoer grabbed a girl for a dance, but she wanted no part of him and smashed him in the head with a bottle, sources said. The spurned lothario slapped her, and his ring left a gash in her head." However, a DJ tells the News, "It happened so fast. It started when a girl was hit in the face with a bottle, and then it turned into a full on brawl."
The dispute grew with more bottles and maybe more being thrown—partygoers apparently "jumped off the boat to the pier to escape" (according to the News) and crew members locked themselves in the kitchen (Post)—and moved to a parking lot. One man apparently ran to a car to get a gun and shot Omar Trent, 31, in the head. It doesn't seem that Trent was the "overzealous partygoer"—the Post says he was actually one of the promoters and had chased someone off the boat. He was pronounced dead at the scene; the News said he had an "extensive rap sheet" including "criminal sale of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, petty and grand larceny, criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct." His brother said, "He was always helping people. He wanted people to have a good time," while a friend said, "He wasn't a thug on the street."
The police have not found the shooter. And the boat's owners blame the overcrowding on the fact that another boat didn't show up. Phillips said, "We promote good times, not killing. We didn't tell anyone to kill someone."
