Tow truck drivers describe being beaten, pistol-whipped during 'all-out brawl' after A-Day game

Days into suffering from a concussion, Lee Averette is surprisingly back at work towing cars on Wednesday."I got kids. I got a family. I got bills. I got to do what I got to do,” Averette said.He's still sore, but his memory of what happened Saturday night near the Tuscaloosa strip is very dim.>> THE LATEST: Headlines and weather from WVTM 13WVTM 13 Magdala Louissaint asked, “What can you remember from Saturday? Averette, a wrecker with Awesome Towing says, "That's the hard part I can't. I remember waking up in the ambulance covered in blood."Before 9:30 p.m. Saturday after the A-Day game Tuscaloosa police shut down the strip because it was overcrowded, with thousands spilling out on the sidewalk. An hour before, Awesome Towing's crew and owner Ziggy Spires say they were called to tow cars at an apartment complex near Grace Street, then a group of people showed up."One of them jumped on the bed, tried to drive off. Next thing I know, they shoved one of my oldest drivers and started whopping on him. I jumped out the truck, then it turned out into an all-out brawl,” Spires said.>> WVTM 13 ON-THE-GO: Download our app for freeFrom that brawl, Spires and Averette show us the scars to prove a fight: a skinned elbow, a bruise on his chest. Averette and another employee, Doug, were taken to the hospital for head injuries. "I get aggravated in all because I can't remember. I've tried to piece it together, but I can't piece it together,” Averette said.Spires says moving forward, things will change for their crews.“We're going to have pistols on us every time we step out of the truck now instead of it being on the truck. There will be mace on us,” Spires said.For Averette, who says he was pistol-whipped and alive to tell his story, adds "I'm very thankful I wasn't shot. I got hit with it, but very thankful I wasn't shot.”Tuscaloosa police tell WVTM 13 they know who attacked the tow truck drivers, they’re working to determine who did what. Charges are expected but have not been filed yet.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. —

Days into suffering from a concussion, Lee Averette is surprisingly back at work towing cars on Wednesday.

"I got kids. I got a family. I got bills. I got to do what I got to do,” Averette said.

He's still sore, but his memory of what happened Saturday night near the Tuscaloosa strip is very dim.

>> THE LATEST: Headlines and weather from WVTM 13

WVTM 13 Magdala Louissaint asked, “What can you remember from Saturday? Averette, a wrecker with Awesome Towing says, "That's the hard part I can't. I remember waking up in the ambulance covered in blood."

Before 9:30 p.m. Saturday after the A-Day game Tuscaloosa police shut down the strip because it was overcrowded, with thousands spilling out on the sidewalk. An hour before, Awesome Towing's crew and owner Ziggy Spires say they were called to tow cars at an apartment complex near Grace Street, then a group of people showed up.

"One of them jumped on the bed, tried to drive off. Next thing I know, they shoved one of my oldest drivers and started whopping on him. I jumped out the truck, then it turned out into an all-out brawl,” Spires said.

>> WVTM 13 ON-THE-GO: Download our app for free

From that brawl, Spires and Averette show us the scars to prove a fight: a skinned elbow, a bruise on his chest. Averette and another employee, Doug, were taken to the hospital for head injuries.

"I get aggravated in all because I can't remember. I've tried to piece it together, but I can't piece it together,” Averette said.

Spires says moving forward, things will change for their crews.

“We're going to have pistols on us every time we step out of the truck now instead of it being on the truck. There will be mace on us,” Spires said.

For Averette, who says he was pistol-whipped and alive to tell his story, adds "I'm very thankful I wasn't shot. I got hit with it, but very thankful I wasn't shot.”

Tuscaloosa police tell WVTM 13 they know who attacked the tow truck drivers, they’re working to determine who did what. Charges are expected but have not been filed yet.

Credits