New details reveal what led to Seabrook selectmen dispute and why assault case was dropped

SEABROOK — According to pages of witness interviews, the issue that led to last September’s angry confrontation and allegations of assault between two Seabrook selectmen stemmed from the use of the pronoun “we.”

News about the Sept. 25, 2023, alleged altercation between Selectmen Theresa Kyle and Srinivasan “Ravi” Ravikumar spread across the town and local news media soon after it occurred at Town Hall. The disagreement between the two led to a simple assault charge against Ravikumar brought by New Hampshire State Police in late November. However, by early December, the warrant for Ravikumar's arrest was vacated and the charge was dropped after it was reviewed by a prosecutor with the New Hampshire Department of Safety.

The investigation was handled by the state police at the request of Seabrook Police Chief Brett Walker to avoid any conflict of interest.

New details of what sparked the alleged altercation and why the charge against Ravikumar was dropped were provided to Seacoastonline via a Right to Know request. The request was made to state police in December and fulfilled four months after initially sought. Specifically, Seacoastonline requested the criminal complaint or complaints, witness statements, investigative reports, supporting affidavit for the warrant that was issued, and any documentation supporting the Department of Safety prosecutor’s decision to vacate the warrant.

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What sparked confrontation between Kyle and Ravikumar?

According to Town Manager Bill Manzi, the brouhaha began during a non-public collective bargaining session between the three selectmen and Seabrook's firefighters union.

According to the victim statement Kyle gave to a state police investigator, the board was meeting with the firefighters union when Ravikumar offered a statement to union representatives repeatedly using the word “we.”

Kyle reprimanded him, saying he shouldn’t presume to speak for her or the entire board.

“I got sick of (Ravi) speaking for me,” Kyle told the investigator. “(Ravi) kept saying ‘we’... ‘we’. . .”

According to her statement, Kyle told Ravikumar, “You don’t speak for me, if I want to, I will speak ... stop saying ‘we,’ you say what you want to say but don’t speak for me.”

In his statement, Ravikumar agreed the argument started during the meeting with the union as he made some remarks. According to Ravikumar’s statement, he hadn’t said anything “bad,” while using the pronoun “we” during his remarks, but he also told Kyle he wasn’t going to let others “control” his words.

Ravikumar said he didn’t believe Kyle’s disagreement was over a policy issue, but that she wanted “to lay into” him. He went on to tell the investigator the two had a quarrelsome relationship.

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What led to alleged assault and who saw it?

The situation within the negotiating session grew contentious as the two argued, causing Manzi to suggest board members continue their discussion in the privacy of his office, Manzi said during an interview following the incident. Manzi said he then asked for a brief recess, not an uncommon practice during collective bargaining.

“It’s called a caucus,” he said at the time.

It was during the caucus that the situation escalated, according to statements to the investigator from Manzi, Kyle, Selectmen Harold Eaton and Ravikumar.

According to Eaton’s and Manzi’s statements, the disagreement between the two intensified. First, standing a distance apart in Manzi’s office, as the dissension escalated, the gap between them closed, and harsh and insulting expletives were spoken.

According to Manzi’s statement, as the argument continued, the two selectmen walked toward each other, and Ravikumar repeatedly pointed his finger at Kyle “aggressively.” According to Manzi, Eaton moved between them in an attempt to de-escalate the situation.

According to Manzi’s statement, as Kyle and Ravikumar came in close proximity to each other while Ravikumar continued pointing his finger in her face, Kyle announced, “You struck me!”

Kyle attempted to strike back, according to Manzi’s statement to the investigator, but Eaton may have deflected the blow. Shortly after the incident, Kyle left Manzi’s office, saying she was calling the police.

Asked by the investigator if he saw Ravikumar’s finger make contact with Kyle, Manzi answered, “I can’t tell you I saw the finger touch the face, I just can’t.” According to the report, Manzi said he was seated behind his desk, several feet away at the time.

Neither was Manzi sure Kyle’s hand made contact with Ravikumar’s head, partly because Eaton was standing between them.

Like Manzi, Eaton’s statement described the conflict beginning at the collective bargaining session with the firefighters union when Ravikumar used the “we” in his remarks, and Kyle took issue. 

Once in Manzi’s office, Eaton sat at the small conference table as the argument grew louder and profanity was used, according to his statement. Kyle and Ravikumar walked towards each other, with Ravikumar pointing his finger at her. Eaton then rose, he stated, “not in an aggressive manner, but to be a separation between the two.”

Eaton told the investigator it was then he heard Kyle exclaim, “You just hit me!,” followed by Ravikumar replying, “You just hit me!”

“After Kyle and Ravikumar claimed they were struck, Eaton separated them and told them to stop being children,” according to the investigator’s report. But Eaton also told the investigator he didn’t see any actual contact between Kyle and Ravikumar.

Asked if it was “typical” for Kyle and Ravikumar to argue, Eaton stated it was not out of the ordinary. Asked who was the “primary aggressor,” Eaton said he couldn’t make that determination.

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What led to Ravikumar being charged?

There were discrepancies between statements made by witnesses in Manzi’s office and Ravikumar. For example, when Ravikumar demonstrated to the investigator how he stood and moved during his confrontation with Kyle, he held his hand close to his chest “in a pointing manner.” He stated Kyle was very close to him, but that his hand was not outside his body frame and not extended when Kyle claimed he hit her.

Investigators interviewed not only the four in Manzi’s office but also others in the collective bargaining session. All appear to agree the argument originated when Ravikumar addressed the group using words that could be perceived to mean he was speaking for the board. Transcriptions of what Ravikumar may have said were completely redacted by the Department of Safety.

According to the investigator’s summary, it was these “discrepancies” on Ravikumar’s part, compared to what all others had stated, that led him to seek a simple assault charge.

A warrant for Ravikumar’s arrest on the misdemeanor charge was signed by Hampton Circuit Court Judge M. Kristin Spath on Nov. 30. However, on Dec.12, a motion to vacate the warrant was submitted after Department of Safety prosecutors determined there was “not enough evidence available to secure a conviction.” The motion was approved by Spath on Dec. 19, 2023.

Since the incident created a “breach of the peace” and disruption of affairs at Seabrook Town Hall, the investigator submitted two probable cause affidavits on Dec. 12 seeking violation-level charges of disorderly conduct against both Kyle and Ravikumar. On Dec. 13, Judge Joseph D. Terrier refused to sign off, citing “no probable cause found.”

On Dec. 22, the lead investigator declared the case closed.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Seabrook selectmen dispute: New details on why assault case dropped