Somewhere around a quarter to 10 p.m. on Thursday, May 5, while the Ellenville celebrations of Cinco de Mayo were winding down, an argument got fierce at the bar in Gaby’s Cafe on Canal Street. It escalated and as can be seen on video taken with a camera phone, it turned into a barroom brawl. (Click here for a partial video of the incident.)

“The sad part of this story,” said Ellenville Police Chief Phil Mattracion, “is that in the early evening people were having dinner, there was music outside, a good atmosphere.”

However, as things moved into the late evening, unknown animosities surfaced and everything disintegrated.

Again, Mattracion said, “This happened before, in 2018 also on Cinco de Mayo, and on that occasion two police officers were injured.”

Genaro Garcia, proprietor of Gaby’s Café, said, “It is unfortunate that there are people who don’t know how to behave. We don’t know what caused this. We had put in a lot of work and expense to have a nice event and it was good mostly but this has probably killed the tradition.”

That is certainly Mattracion’s view. “We will not be recommending that this event be held again.”

The fighting, once it began, continued in spurts. First inside the restaurant, and during this period a doctor and a female friend were sucked into it somehow, and he was punched accidentally. The woman was shoved into a wall.

The fighting had descended into pushing and shoving and yelling. A lot of confused loud arguing could be heard.

At that point, it was just a messy brawl, a minor fracas that was ruining Cinco de Mayo celebrations. But at 10.04 p.m., when Ellenville Police showed up, as determined from study of their bodycam footage, things had metastasized and moved outside. A crowd of an estimated 50 individuals were gathered in the street and on the sidewalk. Others were drifting up the block to the corner of Market Street by Arianna’s Pizza. Arguments continued around that corner. A man was knocked down and other men were on top of him. Police moved in to break things up and get people to go home. At some point around 10:10 p.m. pepper spray was used and it affected one policeman. His bodycam shows water being poured to try and remove the stinging stuff.

Meanwhile fights continued to erupt, at this point it appears they were continuations of what had happened in the restaurant, and police moved again to break them up and disperse small groups. From bodycam footage observed by the Shawangunk Journal at Ellenville Police Station, a few individuals could be seen who were clearly intoxicated. At about the same time, perhaps 10:20 p.m., several Ulster County Sheriff’s Deputies could be seen and with them several NY State Troopers. The small crowd then largely dispersed. One or two drunk individuals could be seen being helped away by friends. It did not appear that they were directly involved in the violence.

However, at about 10:25 p.m., another incident occurred, up the block and almost directly across from the Shawangunk Journal office. On police bodycam footage in that area, loud noises could be from that direction and several officers, deputies, and troopers hurried up the block. A man there was found with blood on his face and down his front; he has been in an altercation with someone not yet identified who stabbed him in the face. Another individual was with him and this one was stabbed in the hand. The man with the facial wound was tended to by police and then taken to the emergency room for treatment. Police searched the area around Matthews Pharmacy but found nothing except a pistol hand grip without the rest of the gun. Like the source of the fighting, another complete mystery.

Meanwhile, back at Gaby’s Café, staff were clearing up, the crowd had gone and heads were shaking. No one understood what had caused the fracas and everyone was left saddened by it.

Chief Mattracion noted that all this was highly unusual. “This in no way reflects on Ellenville. A totally isolated thing. The spirit in the village is completely opposite to this and we will proceed with or without cooperation from the victims. We have established there were four, one of which had broken ribs. There will be arrests.”

Mattracion concluded, “The investigation continues.”