WATERVILLE — A brawl that reportedly began inside the Spirits bar in the basement of the Silver Street Tavern spilled outside, eventually involving as many as 50 people and four police forces and resulting in six arrests early Saturday.
The scene was described as “very dangerous” by one police chief, “chaotic” by another.
The six men arrested, five of them from out of state, will head to court later this year charged with a variety of offenses.
Waterville police Chief Joseph Massey said Monday police were told the initial fight began when someone was punched in the face, but police couldn’t confirm that report. By the time officers arrived, it had become a “chaotic” melee out on the street, Massey said.
Officers who initially arrived at the scene couldn’t handle the scale of the situation, so the department called for help from Winslow, Oakland and Fairfield police, as well as Kennebec County Sheriff’s officers.
Winslow Police Chief Shawn O’Leary said the size and nature of the brawl could have had a much worse outcome.
“I’m really glad that none of the officers were hurt,” O’Leary said. “This is another situation where alcohol got involved and people got into fights, and when you have 40 or 50 people involved, not knowing who the aggressors are, it’s a very dangerous situation.”
Two of the men arrested — Wilfredo Otero and Luis Leon, both of Lowell, Massachusetts — fled from a cruiser after they had been arrested and were quickly caught, so a felony escape charge was added to their other charges.
Waterville police arrested Otero, 30, of 324 Lincoln St., Lowell, and charged him with disorderly conduct, obstructing government administration and escape. Leon, 35, of 86 Mammoth St., Lowell, was charged with refusing to submit to arrest or detention, disorderly conduct and escape. Because of their felony escape charges, the men are scheduled to appear in Kennebec County Superior Court Nov. 23.
Thomas Dylan Cason, 23, of 52 Pawtucket St., Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, was charged with obstructing government administration, refusing to submit to arrest or detention, and failure to disperse. Daniel Gilkes, 36, 20 Powell St., Lowell, was charged with obstructing government administration and failure to disperse. They are scheduled to appear Dec. 22 in Waterville District Court.
Winslow police arrested Billy Jasper Trivette, 24, of 71 Acadia St., Dexter, and charged him with disorderly conduct fighting, assault, refusing to submit to arrest or detention, physical force and criminal mischief. Timothy Michael Thayer, 26, of 129 Barretts Hill Road, Hudson, New Hampshire, was charged by Winslow police with failure to disperse and obstructing government administration.
All were taken to Kennebec County jail in Augusta. Massey said the arrested men from out of state were working in the Waterville area.
Colby College officials Monday said some of the men arrested work for an outside contractor at a construction project at Colby, but none are employees of the college.
Massey said police got a call around 12:30 a.m. Saturday that there was a fight on Silver Street in front of Spirits, a bar in the basement of Silver Street Tavern, on the corner of Silver and Main streets.
He said a large group of people — about 50 — were involved.
When the first Waterville officers arrived, “there were a number of people outside and the scene was chaotic,” he said.
Groups of people were challenging each other, swearing, shouting and pointing at each other as police tried to make sense of what was going on, but it was difficult, he said.
Officers did all they could to contain the crowd, but there were not enough officers, so they called for backup from the other departments, Massey said.
More fights broke out. Waterville police Sgt. Brian Gardiner and Waterville Officer Tim Locke tried to break them up and arrested two men who refused to stop fighting, according to Massey. Waterville Officer Robert Bouley also made arrests.
Police at one point ordered the crowd outside to disperse and said anyone who did not would be arrested, Massey said.
Police were told at the scene that the fight had started when someone was assaulted inside the bar, and that the assailant was still inside, but they couldn’t find a potential initial victim or assailant inside.
Police were told, however, that there were “issues” going on inside and the management had asked people to leave, Massey said.
Winslow’s O’Leary said when several departments are needed to cover such a melee, it leaves the departments without coverage, creating a serious situation.
“We work very well with Waterville, hand-in-hand,” he said, “and when they need us, we’ll go, and when we need them, they’ll come over here.”
Amy Calder — 861-9247
Twitter: @AmyCalder17
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