Tybee Island leaders recap Orange Crush weekend, look forward to next year’s event

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - Tybee Island officials said this year’s Crush Reloaded event was successful and that everyone went home safe.

The renamed festival attracted thousands of visitors to the beach over the weekend. Mayor Brian West said this year’s crowd was one of the best.

“I had comments from our residents that they didn’t even know it was going on over here because we’ve worked it out so that it’s peaceful in their neighborhoods,” West said.

Trash concerns

West said he was on the beach during the festival and one negative to this year’s crowd was the trash left behind.

“It’s a little disheartening. There was a lot of trash that was going into the ocean, so one of our council members was very diligent with trash bags all day long, like going up and down and making sure the trash stayed out of the ocean, and we really appreciate that from him,” West said.

Arrests and citations

The Tybee Island Police Department said there were 26 arrests and 100 citations issued this year. Five firearms were also seized.

Emory Randolph, a captain at the Tybee Island Police Department, said there were a couple of notable incidents.

“One of those, the Georgia State Patrol conducted a traffic stop in which they seized a makeshift machine gun, and there were three arrests made in that case,” Randolph said. “There was a separate situation where one of our officers was in the right place at the right time, and he came across a fight just as one of the compadres was brandishing a firearm. That resulted in a foot pursuit and ultimately the recovery of the weapon and the apprehension of the suspect.”

Business impact

One beach business said business was down but the crowd was calmer than previous years.

West said what needs to come next to continue to improve the event is having a sponsor come in and host activities for Crush visitors and find a way for all the local businesses to work cohesively with the weekend event.