EAST QUOGUE, N.Y. - Four African-American males who had been
visiting MTV's beach house in the Hamptons were arrested during a melee at a nearby club, police said.

The men had been recruited by MTV at a nearby mall to be in the
audience for the its "Direct Effect" hip-hop countdown show, and were among a group bused to the network's beach house in East Quogue, police said.

A group of the recruits left the beach house and went to the
nearby Summers Beach Club, where police said they became "aggressive and confrontational" with staff and other patrons, Southampton Town Police said in a statement.

Police said two people were hurt in the Tuesday afternoon brawl.
One was taken to a nearby hospital, and investigators were searching for the second.

Kareem Sharpe, 19, one of those arrested, said he was heading
back to the MTV bus when he saw someone hit on the head with a bottle and kicked. He said he then got into a confrontation with an off-duty police officer trying to break up the melee.

"I hit him," Sharpe told the Daily News. "I didn't even know he
was a police officer."

Sharpe, of Brentwood, was charged with assault and interfering
with another arrest and was released on $250 bail after his arraignment
Wednesday.

Also arrested were David Callender, 24, of Farmingdale, charged
with second-degree assault and stealing from a tip jar; Pandelis Theodosiou, 21, of Port Jefferson, charged with taking a bottle of rum from the bar and threatening the club owner; and Greg Romine, 22, of South Setauket, charged with interfering with another arrest.

MTV said in a statement released to the Daily News that it was
cooperating with the investigation. A message left for a network spokeswoman on Thursday was not immediately returned.