Reggae Night Assault Leads to Felony Arrests

Unless otherwise noted, information about the following incidents was supplied by the South Kingstown Police Department. An arrest does not indicate a conviction.

Charles J. Alcenat, 26, of 164 Broad St., Apt. #2, Norwich, CT, and Jimmy Jean-Baptiste, 23, of 111 North St., Norwich, CT, were arrested at about 12:25 a.m. on July 25 and charged with felony assault with a dangerous weapon.

According to police, a patrolman monitoring the bar at the Ocean Mist was alerted to a fight by the dance floor at about 12:07 a.m. Police said the victim was quickly found, and he had a severe laceration on his face near his lip.

Police said that the victim told them that he was struck with a wine glass by one man – later identified by the victim as Jean-Baptiste – and another man – Alcenat – hit him with a beer bottle. Both were arrested at that point.

Alcenat told police that he had seen one of his friends surrounded by four other men and hit the victim to protect his friend. He told police that the victim was an ex-boyfriend of a family member.

Jean-Baptiste declined to provide police with a formal statement. He told them during processing that he only knew the victim because he was an ex-boyfriend of his current girlfriend.

Police noted that Alcenat is a Haitian citizen. He declined notifying the Haitian consul of his arrest, and told police that he had been in the United States for more than 10 years on a green card. Police notified ICE of Alcenat’s arrest.

According to police, they were able to interview the victim at South County Hospital. A preliminary medical exam revealed a cut to the bone near the bottom lip and chin, a chipped front left tooth and a large swollen contusion to the left side of his forehead.

The victim told police that Alcenat accused him of dancing too closely to a family member, and they had a brief verbal argument.

The victim said he attempted to leave before he became physical, but as he turned and walked away, he was hit in the face by Jean-Baptiste with a wine glass, and then with a beer bottle by Alcenat. Three friends of the victim gave similar accounts to police.

Police noted that because of the severity of the victim’s injuries, he had to be transported to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment.

According to online records, Alcenat has no previous arrests in Rhode Island. However, according to The Norwich Bulletin, he was arrested in Sept. 2009 for third-degree assault. A status conference is scheduled for Aug. 29, followed by felony screening on Sept. 4.

Jean-Baptiste also has no prior arrests in Rhode Island, and is also scheduled for a status conference on Aug. 29 and felony screening on Sept. 4.

Unless otherwise noted, the information for this article was compiled from South Kingstown police reports, which are available for review by any member of the public at their . If we’re missing a call or report you’re interested in knowing about, feel free to leave a comment or to send Local Editor Stephen Greenwell a message at Stephen.greenwell@patch.com.

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