2 charged as landlord-tenant dispute allegedly turns violent near Staten Island playground

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — On the afternoon of Sept. 20, multiple law enforcement agencies responded to a park near the U.S. Coast Guard base in Fort Wadsworth for a report of a family assaulted.

Hours later, a 77-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman were arrested on felony assault charges in connection with the incident, which according to court documents stemmed from a landlord-tenant dispute.

The defendants, Kam Chen, 77, and Hai Xu, 52, are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in state Supreme Court, St. George, on charges that included second-degree assault, second-degree robbery and endangering the welfare of children.

According to the criminal complaint, the incident unfolded at approximately 2:20 p.m. on the 300 block of USS Tennessee Road. Chen and Xu are accused of assaulting a man and woman, along with two toddlers.

The defendants were arrested hours later at a residence where they both reside on the 2300 block of Hylan Boulevard in New Dorp. Their relationship to one another was not immediately clear.

Xu told police the complainants were renting a property from them.

An attorney retained in the case and representing both defendants did not return a request for comment.

Family bloodied, bruised: D.A.

Prosecutors said the female victim was punched in the face and bloodied in the ordeal, while her phone was snatched from her hand.

The male victim allegedly was struck and knocked down, which resulted in fractures to his ribs and spine, according to the complaint.

Each of the toddlers were kicked in the chest, the complaint alleges.

In speaking with police on the day of the incident, the defendants detailed an ongoing dispute with the alleged victims, according to court documents.

Xu told police they had been trying “in court trying to get them out.”

“The tenants kept reporting me like everyday, so I was driving around,” Xu said. “I wanted to go to the park and I saw them and confronted them, like ‘why do you record me every day?’

Chen also spoke with authorities, court documents show, maintaining he was defending himself.