Published: June 24, 2009 01:28 am      

TOWN OF TONAWANDA: Melee in Sheridan Parkside leads to four arrests

TOWN OF TONAWANDA — A brawl in the streets of the Sheridan Parkside neighborhood drew more than 50 people out of their homes and resulted in four arrests Monday night.

Just before 7 p.m., police received a call of a fight on Cobb Street involving baseball bats. Residents in the neighborhood said the incident was gang-related that started out small but escalated.

Charged following the melee were:

• Brandon J. Henley, with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, third-degree attempted assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

• Kevin L. Henley, with disorderly conduct.

• Devante Henley, with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree criminal tampering for spitting on the back seat of the police car.

• Reginald Bigham, with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and disorderly conduct.

Once police arrived, approximately 25 people were shouting and gesturing at one another, with more coming out of nearby houses. When police cars rolled up and sounded sirens, the group began to split into two factions, according to police reports. Attempts to disperse the crowd proved unsuccessful as it ballooned to more than 50 individuals, so police set to breaking up individual pockets of fighting.

Officers spotted Devante Henley walking toward the action with an aluminum baseball bat and ordered him to stop. Henley allegedly shouted a profanity back at the officer and kept going, but had the bat taken from him shortly after. A second man, Reginald Bigham, was also spotted near officers swinging a baseball bat and was also arrested, according to reports.

Brandon Henley was observed assuming a fighting stance, then allegedly punched a juvenile female in the face before being tackled by police. A group gathered around the officer and Brandon Henley, but eventually they were pushed back by police. Brandon Henley also surrendered a four-inch screwdriver he had stuffed in his shoe, saying he brought it because there were baseball bats involved.

Kevin L. Henley was spotted fighting an unidentified black male and resisted police demands that he stop. When they attempted to grab his arm, Kevin Henley allegedly tried to pull away and had to be taken to the ground.