Judge Avallone and Carabetta’s attorney at Thursday’s virtual hearing.
A tenant who allegedly swung a machete and used it to threaten other tenants is allowed to stay in his apartment — for now.
That’s the upshot of a virtual hearing that took place in state housing court.
The hearing concerned an eviction case. Carabetta Management Co., represented by attorney Herbert Reckmeyer, is seeking to evict a tenant named Ronald, represented by attorney Jerald Barber, for committing a “serious nuisance” by allegedly swinging the machete near other tenants and putting the machete up to the throat of one, “asking if she wanted to feel it.”
Carabetta won the right in court to evict Ronald. Then Ronald, who has a mental disability, returned to court with a motion to reopen the case. Superior Court Judge Anthony Avallone held the hearing on the motion Thursday.
Ronald lives at the Bella Vista complex, where Carabetta has moved recently to evict ten tenants.
After hearing both sides, Avallone continued the hearing for a week to get more information. He said he would like a doctor to testify on the mental state of Ronald, who stated that mental issues that caused the machete situation are now under control.
Ronald did not contest in the hearing that he had a machete and brought it outside of his apartment. He said he “categorically denies” that he threatened anyone by placing the machete on their neck.
Instead, he said, officers followed him to his house and tased him twice after they found him sitting on a bench with the weapon.
“In every direction, I’ve got doctors saying, ‘This is happening because you’re off your meds,’” he added, saying that he now sees a psychiatrist and therapist, and is prescribed medication.
Rockmeyer noted that Ronald corroborated the claims that he had a machete on the property and took it outside of his house.
“A person who has a machete, I would argue, by definition has a medical condition,” Rockmeyer said. “A reasonable, rational human being does not bring a machete out in public. Does not take a machete out of his house, bring it down through the hallway, and sit down on a park bench.”
On the legal definition of “a serious nuisance,” Judge Avallone inquired about the “relevance” that the incident happened only once, on Aug. 25, 2020, and is yet to be repeated.
Rockmeyer compared the machete to a gun, and Ronald swinging the machete to instead firing the gun into the air.
“Must the tenant fire the gun into the air twice to be regarded a nuisance? I would argue no,” he added.
Ultimately, Avallone continued the hearing until next Thursday, March 25, so as to hear evidence surrounding Ronald’s condition.
“The fact that there is a dangerous weapon involved here, I’m sure it’s been taken away from the individual. That doesn’t mean he can’t obtain another one,” he said of the order. “I want to hear from a doctor that he has a disability that is controllable. I don’t want any excuses.”