CRANSTON – A fight between an apartment building landlord and several of his tenants at a Broad Street property on April 9 led to four arrests on disorderly conduct charges, WPRI-TV CBS 12 reported Thursday.
Police arrested multiple people at 1890 Broad St. after a brawl ensued between three tenants and the property owner, Jeffrey Butler, 59.
Butler, along with tenants Eugene Vazquez, 21, Kellee Silva, 24, and Robert Silva, 50, of Warwick, were charged. Police told WPRI that the four were released after being arraigned.
Police body camera footage obtained by WPRI showed the tenants telling officers that Butler came to inspect the property before both sides screamed at each other and a fight ensued.
According to the police report, cell phone videos showed Butler arguing with Vasquez and Kellee Silva. Vasquez and Kellee Silva asked officers to charge Butler with assault, but the police wrote in the report that “although parties were pushing and shoving, along with trying to knock phones out of each other’s hands, no assault can be seen on camera from either view,” according to WPRI’s report.
Butler did not respond to WPRI’s request for comment.
The apartment’s residents, who have been at odds with Butler, have been trying to organize a tenants union to combat what they described as deplorable conditions at the apartment complex.
A city inspector issued two citations against Butler’s management company, Elmwood Realty LLC, after inspecting several apartments and the building’s exterior on April 1. The city demanded the building code issues needed to be fixed in 10 days.