One of the men was arrested for resisting arrest when he began smashing up the police station where he was taken. One witness said: "It was complete mayhem. Tables and chairs were going everywhere and people were diving for cover. It took about a dozen police officers to bring the situation under control and even then it carried on at the police station. They were all drunk." The sailors were from an unidentified Royal Navy ship which had stopped at a Nato base at Augusta on the island. Witnesses said an argument broke out between staff at a pub called Il Buio and the group of sailors, said to include officers, after they complained about slow service. The eight were later allowed to rejoin their ship.