Barrington Police will increase patrols at the town’s baseball and softball fields following an incident at Chianese Park on Thursday night, April 24.

Police said there was an altercation between a Barrington Little League baseball coach and a man walking his Golden retriever. 

Police said the teams had cleared off of the baseball field at Chianese just before 8 p.m. and only one coach was there when a man walked his dog inside the fenced-in field. 

Police said the coach told the man that dogs were not allowed on the ballfields. According to the police report, the man walking the Golden retriever responded by swearing at the coach and telling him that he did not own the field. Police said the coach also felt threatened, as the man with the dog was carrying a baseball bat.

The Little League coach called police to report the incident and officers responded to Chianese and searched for the dog owner, but could not find him. Barrington Police Chief Michael Correia said the department has a description of the suspect. 

The town recently closed the dog park at Haines Park because of an athletic field renovation project there.

“We’re asking people to use the dog park in Warren. We’re asking them to stay off the ball fields,” Chief Correia said. “They’re not supposed to be in the fenced-in ball fields.”

The chief said the department will be more proactive with patrols at the town’s ball fields. 

On Sunday afternoon, the Barrington Little League board of directors sent out a league-wide email regarding the incident at Chianese Field. 

It stated, in part, “Town ordinance §134-13 requires dogs to be leashed and for the leash to be in the dog owner’s physical possession in all park, recreation, and beach areas. In addition, the Town recently installed signs prohibiting dogs on athletic fields.This ordinance exists for everyone’s safety.

“Last week, following a game at Chianese, two dog owners brought their unleashed dog onto the field while one of our volunteer coaches was finishing cleaning up. The coach approached one of the dog owners to inform him of the town ordinance. Our coach asked him to leash his dog and made him aware of the ‘No Dogs on Athletic Fields’ sign at the dugout. The dog owner proceeded to verbally abuse and physically threaten our coach.

“This kind of abuse toward our VOLUNTEER coaches is unacceptable and intolerable, and goes against the strong sense of community we all cherish in Barrington. A police report was filed and our board has requested more stringent enforcement of the Town’s dog ordinances and more frequent patrols of our fields - especially when they are in use by our teams.

“We love our pets and the majority of our board members are dog owners. We certainly understand the inconvenience caused by the closure of the dog park, but we also have a responsibility to ensure that the fields our kids play on are safe and clean so they can play ball without fear of sliding through dog waste or tripping in a hole made by a dog in the outfield. We also have a responsibility to ensure that our volunteers are safe from abuse and threats. 

“If you see people using our ballfields - or any athletic field - as an off-leash dog park or if you see someone being abusive or making threats toward a coach, player, or anyone else, please report it immediately to Barrington Police Dispatch (401-437-3935).”