By Elizabeth Ferszt
Contributing Writer
The May 18th meeting of the Hartford City Council didn’t go as planned — on the agenda were several mundane items such as City Hall being closed for Memorial Day, Monday, May 25; a Notice to Mow ordinance; and reminders about Juneteenth celebrations, and the June 12-14 Strawberry Festival. But instead, an elected council member left his seat and went after a member of the public audience.
According to Wood TV-8, things got so bad that the City of Hartford Police have conflicted themselves out in terms of bringing charges against either Hartford City Commissioner Charlie Weeden, or Hartford resident John Spoula.
Because this was a regularly scheduled public meeting, video live feed had been set up, and recordings of the events show in part, Weeden, seated on the commissioners and mayor’s dais, using his middle finger to gesture at Spoula. A voice, allegedly Spoula’s, can be heard saying, “Ah, tough guy!?”
Weeden then says, “I’m gonna stay here and be as out of order as I want to be.”
Spoula allegedly then says, “Come on, right now!”
According to the video, Weeden, wearing a red baseball cap and a white t-shirt, then suddenly gets up from his chair and walks behind the formal desks and dais. Spoula can be seen approaching the commissioners dais from the other side in the same clip. Ricky Ricks, Superintendent of Public Works, still wearing his yellow reflective work gear, attempts to block Weeden from reaching Spoula.
The fight escalates: Spoula takes a swing at Weeden; Weeden grabs Spoula’s arm, and the two men, along with Ricks, fall into nearby folding chairs. Spoula grabs Weeden’s collar as Hartford Chief of Police Brian Matthews (who regularly attends City Council meetings in his public capacity), grabs Spoula’s arm and places it behind his back, arrest-style. Ricks guy pulls Weeden back from the fight, to break it up.
Matthews can be heard saying to Spoula, “Stop, you’re arrested!”
According to Wood TV-8, the two men have been battling it out online for a while, with Spoula criticizing Weeden over his personal taxes, and then went after his family. Weeden said that Spoula said or posted, “Stand up, let’s go.”
Spoula confirmed the vitriol and tension between the two: “Me and Charlie want this fight. I want it. He wants it. We both want to go old school and finish it. OK? That’s the way I was raised. That’s the way he was raised,” Spoula said.
After the incident in City Council chambers, Spoula said, “When he (Weeden) come running after me, well, of course I got up and I’m going to fight him. I’m not going to stand there and just let him club me,” even though it appears from the video that Spoula threw the first punch.
Spoula is filing charges against Weeden for assault, and the two men were briefly detained by Hartford Police after the incident. But the county will be handling any formal charges against both men. Spoula is also spearheading a recall effort against Weeden as commissioner.
Hartford mayor Jane Danger called a meeting on Tuesday May 19 to discuss “alleged violation of the City’s Code of Conduct & Ethics Ordinance by Commissioner Weeden,” — as stated in the meeting’s agenda website, but Danger said that the meeting “was unrelated to the incident” and that she “could not comment further due to possible litigation.”
Van Buren County Sheriff, Hon. Daniel Abbott was contacted for comment but did not respond.
City of Hartford Superintendent of the Department of Public Works, Ricky Ricks was also contacted, but he did not respond.
Van Buren County Jail reported that neither Spoula nor Weeden had been taken into custody and/or released. Online sources report that no charges on either side will be filed.
