An ongoing feud between residents in Ellenville escalated past the point of no return, when Anthony V. Caparla, 20, of Ellenville, and Rafael Gonzales, 20, of Brooklyn were arrested for the stabbing of Justin Torres, 19, of Ellenville, on Wednesday, September 24. The two were each charged with assault in the second degree, criminal position of a weapon in the fourth degree, and tampering with physical evidence. A bail of $7,000 was set for each as they were remanded to Ulster County Jail. They appeared in village court on Monday for their preliminary hearing, at the end of which, Justice Matt Parker moved that the case go before a grand jury in Kingston.

In the courtroom before the hearing got underway, dramas continued to unfold, with members of the defendants' families claiming that Torres and his sister, Ashley, had threatened their lives in the courtroom. The family filed reports with the police, prompting Ellenville police officers to enter and watch over the proceedings. As the hearing began, Judge Parker said that should anyone speak or act in an inappropriate way, they would be arrested and charged with contempt of court — which eventually happened, when Anthony Caparla, Sr., the father of one of the defendants, began to publicly decry the testimony of Detective Richard Jacobs. Caparla says that an officer grabbed his injured arm when he was arrested, and that he will now seek a personal injury lawyer. His bail of $1,000 was paid.

How did things get so bad, causing chaos in the courtroom? According to Caparla, Sr., he and Justin Torres had gotten into a fist fight because Caparla was wearing a yellow bandana, apparently a color associated with the Latin Kings, with whom Caparla says Torres is affiliated.

From there things went from bad to worse. Numerous police reports were filed as the two and their friends and families continued to fight, sometimes physically, often verbally, and orders of protection were filed against Torres. At one point, says Ellenville Police Chief Phil Mattracion, Torres and his friends were arrested for attempted burglary, harassing, and menacing of Caparla, but "there were problems with witness identification in that case." Another time, Caparla and his fiancé, Alba Vasquez, the mother of the other defendant, Rafael Vasquez, were arrested for disorderly conduct. Among the other incidents were threatening phone calls allegedly made by Torres's friends to Caparla's family members, a charge of breaking and entering against Caparla, and various other instances of disorderly conduct between the two factions. Caparla even says that the incidents had made him so distraught that he had attempted to take his own life in August.

The situation continued to escalate past last Wednesday's stabbing incident when charges of harassment from Torres against Caparla and Vasquez were reported to the police, prompting Chief Mattracion to post a car to watch at Caparla's home on Saturday night.

The conflict continued past the hearing as well. Caparla and Vasquez spoke with the Journal late Tuesday night, reporting yet another incident of Torres and his kin calling Caparla's ex-sister-in-law with threats that they would get Latin Kings to hurt his and Vasquez's sons in Ulster County Jail. Caparla said he was reluctant to call the village's police department because he feels he's been targeted, and treated unfairly, and called the Ulster County Sheriff and the State Police.

He also draws a correlation between his treatment and an incident which occurred months ago between his nephew and Detective Jacobs, referring to an incident where his nephew and the detective clashed and a chase ensued, resulting in injuries to the youth.

"I'm more afraid for my life and my freedom from the Ellenville Police Department than I am of walking the streets of Brooklyn, New York," he said. "I'm scared for my son's and my step-son's life just now because of the threats that were just made."

Caparla and Vasquez contacted the Journal last week, and spoke about what they view as unfair treatment in the police department and the Ellenville Justice Court, pointing to lower bails being set for Torres and his kin. They cited a $1,000 bail set for their disorderly conduct arrests, and their sons' $7,000 bail for the fight and stabbing incident last Wednesday, whereas the bail set for incidents regarding Torres were often not more than a few hundred dollars.

When asked about the discrepancy between the bail amounts, Chief Mattracion cited the fact that the Vasquezes and Caparlas are either not current residents of Ellenville, or are new residents, and that bail amounts are usually set based on the crimes being alleged and the flight risk of the accused, and as such, their bails were set higher, whereas Torres is an Ellenville native.

The chief also responded to questions about why bail wasn't set higher for Torres as the conflict escalated, which could have conceivably kept him off the street and in jail and could have prevented the conflicts from continuing.

"Bail is not a punishment," he said on Tuesday. "It's set to secure the defendants' appearance before the court." He said that the police department, the court, and the district attorney's office are "doing everything we can justifiably and legally."

Despite the severity of the situation, Chief Mattracion is emphatic that Ellenville is not a stronghold for gangs, pointing to a lack of evidence and the usual tell-tale signs that a gang has taken up residence in an area.

"Torres may have verbally associated himself with the Latin Kings," he said, but that there was no tagging of the area — which would involve spray-painting signs and symbols claiming territory.

"People want to sound bigger than what they are," he said.

Torres is set to appear in village court on October 21 for his charges. Attempts to speak with Torres regarding this story were not met with success.

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