No assault charge related to incident involving Captain Buzzy’s owner, neighbor

This is the most recent development in a long line of legal confrontations.

June 17, 2014; 12:42 PM • by Eric Steigleder

Potential charges stemming from an incident that took place between the owner of Captain Buzzy’s Beanery and a neighbor last September have been dropped.

The RTD described the initial incident which sparked the court battle:

[Kimberly] Chen was charged after an incident outside her home…[Bob] Buffington said he was returning a flowerpot to Chen, who had bought the pot for Buffington’s wife and painted ladybugs on it because the two women, who were close friends, were fond of ladybugs. Buffington’s wife died of cancer in 2011.

Chen told Buffington she did not want the pot back, and he told her she could throw it away if she did not want it. Chen and Buffington agree that, as Buffington was walking away, Chen threw the empty clay flowerpot. Buffington testified at trial in Richmond General District Court in December that Chen threw the pot about 30 feet and that it grazed his ear.

After completing a community service sentence, however, the Richmond Circuit Court decided that they would no longer pursue a assault charges against Chen.

But this isn’t the first legal upheaval between Captain Buzzy’s and the Church Hill Community.

Buffington has filed a lawsuit last year against multiple neighbors and local organizations, claiming that they used questionable and underhanded tactics in order to convince city officials to deny his shop’s request to seek a liquor license.

From a Richmond BizSense article:

The lawsuit alleges that the Church Hill Association – the local neighborhood group – supported Buffington’s request until a few neighbors “hijacked” the association…In addition to seeking more than $3 million in damages, the lawsuit asks the court to appoint a ‘special master to un-hijack the association.’