Melissa Bailey Photo
The city Friday agreed to let two feuding food trucks return to Long Wharf — provided they stay far enough apart to avoid fighting over turf or “badgering” each other’s shish kebabs.
The decision came during hearings for Lechonera La Unica and La Pinchera Friday afternoon on the fifth floor of the Hall of Records.
The two trucks are the only Puerto Rican food vendors at Long Wharf Park. For the past couple months, they have set up shop six days a week, nearly bumper to bumper with each other, along Long Wharf Drive. The city revoked both trucks’ vending permits last Friday after an April 18 dispute in which a knife and a gun were pulled and three men were arrested, including the two owners of the trucks.
The two Puerto Rican food vendors appealed the decision. They said they were fighting for their livelihoods.
Carlos Espada-Maldonado (at right in photo above), owner of La Pinchera, was the first to have his case heard Friday. He showed up in a black windbreaker and was accompanied by his girlfriend, Dalia DeFelice (at left). Espada-Maldonado is one of the most veteran vendors on the Long Wharf — he said he’s been there since 2001, when it was just “Flag Man, Flower Girl, and Sweeney’s” hot dogs. In all that time, he’s never had his license suspended, he said.
He and DeFelice waited for an hour before the hearing got under way. They said they need the money from their business to help them move home. They’re planning to spend one more summer working, then return to Puerto Rico. Having the vendor’s license “means everything,” DeFelice said. “It’s our bread.”
“I’m hoping for a solution,” Espada-Maldonado said. “We both deserve another chance.”
After a brief hearing, he got his wish.
At 1:48 p.m., police brass rolled in to the conference room, and the hearing began. Assistant Chief Stephanie Redding presided. She asked three cops — Officer Salvadore Rodriguez, Officer Yelena Borisova (at left in photo) and Sgt. Richard Miller (at right) — to explain their case.
Rodriguez said police first learned of a feud between the two vendors on Friday April 16, when they were called to the scene to settle a dispute. A cook from Espada-Maldonado’s truck had lost his temper during an argument and pulled out a knife, he said. Espada-Maldonado wasn’t there at the time; he later fired the cook, Rodriguez said.
At that time, police warned the two vendors — Espada-Maldonado and Jose Ortiz, Jr., who owns La Unica — that if there was any more fighting, they’d both lose their licenses.
Two days later, the same two officers, Rodriguez and Borisova, responded again to Long Wharf on the report of another fight. They learned that Espada-Maldonado had pulled a knife and Jose Ortiz’s brother Carlos had pulled out a gun. Espada-Maldonado claimed that Jose Ortiz pulled out a knife, too. All three men were arrested.
Rodriguez called his boss, Sgt. Miller, and reported that “the ongoing dispute has now escalated.”
After those arrests, Sgt. Miller, who’s the top cop in the Hill South district, asked the city building department to revoke the licenses, he said.
After the police spoke Friday, the food-makers had their turn to explain what happened.
DeFelice said the fight boiled down to an insult over their rice: “They were badgering our food.”
La Lechonera specializes in shish kebabs, she explained in an interview. The business operates from a small truck. When it’s busy they sometimes run out of rice. Someone in the competition’s truck pointed that out to a customer, she said.
She said a turf fight was only part of the problem. The couple were in Puerto Rico a couple months ago when La Unica, a new kid on the block at Long Wharf, was assigned to their regular spot. Since that time, they had a few conflicts over the location of their trucks, she said.
At the hearing, DeFelice acted out the scene for officials. She said on April 18, the dispute got more heated, and Jose Ortiz asked Espada-Maldonado to fight it out. Espada-Maldonado, who had been cutting meat, put a knife in his pocket and went out of the truck to meet Ortiz. They were squaring off to fight when Carlos Ortiz came out of the truck, pointing a gun at him, DeFelice said.
She straightened her arms and pointed her fingers to illustrate how he held the gun (in photo at the top of this story).
“Did you call the police?” asked Assistant Chief Redding (pictured).
“No,” Espada-Maldonado replied. He said he grew up in Fair Haven, and has learned not to “snitch.”
Sgt. Miller said he has reviewed the case and came up with a new solution. He suggested the two vendors be allowed to return to business on Monday, but be monitored and set apart by a few trucks to avoid future conflicts. Andy Rizzo, the building chief who issued the revocations last Friday, said he had no objections. The week of suspension the vendors endured was sufficient penalty, Miller and Rizzo agreed.
Redding accepted the recommendation: “Your time is served: You can return Monday,” she declared.
She wrapped up the 20-minute hearing with a stern warning: Next time around, no such leniency. The licenses will be revoked.
“Knives, guns, fighting … this is not the behavior we expect,” Redding said. She suggested he call 911 next time, instead of “putting a knife in your back pocket.”
Espada-Maldonado thanked the officials for sparing his business, and apologized for the dispute.
“I’m a peacemaker,” he contended.
“That’s what I’m looking for — peace and professionalism,” Redding replied. She said she and many fellow cops frequently eat food from vendors around town. “We need the vendors to be feeding us — in a hurry.”
A second hearing followed for Jose Ortiz, Jr. (pictured, with Register reporter Mary O’Leary). It lasted only 11 minutes. The cops repeated their case. Ortiz apologized for the dispute, but said he was only trying to deescalate the situation. Rizzo, who took over as the hearing officer, determined he should get his license back, just as Espada-Maldonado did.
“As of Monday, you can go back to vending,” Rizzo declared. He instructed both vendors to get food service licenses for every person who works in the truck.
He laid out the most important condition: “I’m going to separate you two.”
Good job New Haven police and building departments. The actions you took should (hopefully) send a very clear message that the situation is serious and that there is zero tolerance for that kind of unruly behavior. Plus, I don't want to be rolling up on long wharf for come some good Puerto Rican yuca -- when knives and guns are wielding all over the place.