A chaotic scene unfolded at Lafayette Park on the evening of September 10, when Fall River Police say a man brandished a machete during a night of multiple fights among juveniles. The man was arrested and now faces charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and disturbing the peace as a subsequent offense.
According to Fall River Reporter, police responded to the park at roughly 6 p.m. after receiving reports of multiple fights and threats that a weapon was present. The City of Fall River Police Department Facebook post was also cited in the account, which described an alleged machete threat and brandishing.
Police say the confrontation began after the man became involved in a dispute regarding the boy, and that he temporarily left the park and later returned without the weapon, per the same Fall River Reporter account. Additional individuals involved in the separate fights remained under investigation.
Berry Pleads Not Guilty, Pretrial Hearing Set for October
The man pleaded not guilty in court, the Fall River Reporter reported.
The charges the man faces carry significant potential penalties under Massachusetts law. Assault with a dangerous weapon under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265 § 15B is punishable by up to five years in state prison, up to 2.5 years in a jail or house of correction, or a fine of up to $1,000. Disturbing the peace as a subsequent offense under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272 § 53 can bring up to six months in a house of correction or a $200 fine.
A Park in the Middle of Investment and Unrest
Lafayette Park was the site of the incident in Fall River. The area has drawn attention amid safety concerns.
Details about city funding for Lafayette Park are not included here. Separately, Chapter 137 of the Acts of 2026 is a fiscal-year 2027 appropriations act, according to the 194th General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Second Armed Park Incident in Weeks
The Lafayette Park confrontation follows a similar armed disturbance just weeks earlier at another Fall River park. Less than a month before, on August 18, Fall River Police arrested a 38-year-old man at Kennedy Park after he allegedly chased juveniles with a pocketknife near the park's pavilion, according to Hoodline's earlier reporting.
The Fall River Police Department responded to the Lafayette Park incident.
Video provided by a witness is part of the account of the Lafayette Park incident.
It remains unclear whether prosecutors will pursue additional charges against the other combatants expected to be summonsed, or whether any stay-away conditions from Lafayette Park were imposed on Berry as part of his release.
