Chase told police he and his friends were golfing, and that he had hit a ball from the tee box while a group of other golfers were still on the hole’s green.
“I didn’t realize there were people on the green. I hit the ball. They all kind of came up at me and … I just ended up arguing with them,” Chase can be heard telling an officer in a body-worn camera video.
According to the report, Chase said the group “approached him and were upset about him teeing off too early” and that the two groups began yelling at each other.
He said he grabbed his golf club because he was scared “they were going to jump him,” and said he was pushed to the ground, the police report states.
“They’re a lot bigger than me,” Chase says in the 41-second video.
Cameron Chase, 20, of East Providence, R.I., and Joseph Folco, 38, of Johnston, R.I., speak to police about the alleged confrontation.
“When they came up to me, one guy, like, grabbed me and kind of pushed me to the ground and when I got back up, they just kept coming towards me,” he said. “So I hit him because I thought they were going to jump me or something.”
Chase told police he hit the man in the back of the head with the club, and then ran into the bushes, according to the report. Police wrote the golf club was seized as evidence.
Another person in Chase’s group told police they were defending themselves. Chase had hit a ball close to the other group, which then threatened Chase and his group “with comments such as ‘I will kill this little [expletive],’” the report states.
The person allegedly hit with the club identified Chase at the scene as the attacker, according to the report.
The man told police “he was golfing when another group hit off from the tee box while his group were still on the green” and that he approached the other golfers as “he wanted to remind the group of proper golf etiquette and the safety hazards,” the report states.
The two groups began “yelling and swearing at each other,” the man said, adding Chase “grabbed his putter and began walking towards [him] and his group, waving the putter around in the air,” the man told police.
He said “Chase cocked his arm back with the putter in hand, as if he was going to swing at him,” police wrote. “[He] stated that he pushed Chase away from him and began to walk away. Chase then struck [him] in the back of the head with his golf club.”
Chase then ran into the woods towards the road, the man told police.
The man was evaluated at the scene and brought to Kent Hospital, police wrote.
In an email on Thursday, East Greenwich Police Detective Lieutenant Tyler Lufkin said the man was “conscious and alert on scene.” The man was recovering on Thursday, his brother’s lawyer said.
Police spoke to the man’s brother, Joseph Folco, 38, of Johnston, who allegedly grabbed a club from Chase during the incident and threw it away from him, but Chase grabbed another, authorities wrote in a separate report.
“He just swung it and he hit my brother in the head,” Folco can be heard telling police in a body camera video.
Police were allegedly told that Chase “was making comments such as ‘I’m going to kill you,’” authorities wrote.
Folco tried to run after Chase when Chase ran off to a wooded area, but was unsuccessful, according to the report. Folco said he then walked back to the course and threw Chase’s golf clubs in a lake, according to police.
According to police, the golf bag and its contents that Folco allegedly threw in the water are valued at $4,125, and include a $500 Titleist driver, several irons and wedges, and a $400 key to a 2019 Audi A4.
The East Greenwich Country Club did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday. According to its website, the club is a public, nine-hole golf course that opened in 1964.
Chase was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and felony assault and/or battery, and has a screening hearing scheduled on Oct. 27, court records show.
An attorney for Chase did not immediately return a request for comment. A person who answered a phone number listed in court files for Chase said, “Have a nice day,” when reached by a Globe reporter on Thursday.
Folco was arrested and faces misdemeanor charges of vandalism and disorderly conduct, records show. He was arraigned in Kent County District Court on Monday and a plea of not guilty was entered.
Dylan C. DiLibero, an attorney representing Folco, said Thursday he believes his client had a “justified reaction to his brother being struck in the back of the head with a golf putter.”
“From what I understand, it was done maliciously,” DiLibero said.
Folco also disputes the value of Chase’s golf clubs, DiLibero said.
“Us men, we take our golf very seriously and it’s evident that these gentlemen did as well, and unfortunately, sometimes scuffles occur,” DiLibero said. “But … we have a very good justice system, and the justice system will figure out exactly what happened, who’s responsible, and what the necessary repercussions are.”
Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.
