Cranston mayor sued for allegedly failing to pay for car taken 3 years ago

by: Ted Nesi

CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) — Cranston Mayor Ken Hopkins is shrugging off a newly filed lawsuit that accuses him of taking possession of a classic car in 2021 without paying the owner for it.

ORIGINAL NOTE: https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/west-bay/cranston-mayor-sued-after-allegedly-failing-to-pay-for-car-taken-3-years-ago/

The suit, filed Thursday, accuses the mayor of “wrongfully taking a motor vehicle owned by Davide C. Broccoli without his authorization and without any agreement with him to pay for it.” The car is described as a white 1975 Morris Garage MGB Anniversary Edition coupe.

Broccoli also suggests he suffered “harassment, retaliation, intimidation, and abuse” from several city officials who targeted him amid the dispute over the car. The suit names the city, the mayor, city treasurer David Capuano, city solicitor Chris Millea and others.

The suit suggests that at some point in the summer of 2021, Hopkins and an unidentified woman visited a property where Broccoli kept antique cars. Hopkins allegedly sat down in the MG, started it, told Broccoli he was taking it, and drove away.

“Kenneth Hopkins and Davide C. Broccoli did not discuss the price or payment for the MG either before or when he drove away with Davide Broccoli’s MG,” the suit states.

Broccoli also accuses Hopkins of putting his city license plate on the MG. He is represented by Stephen Izzi, a Providence attorney.

Speaking to The Providence Journal, Broccoli further alleged that he has retained copies of threatening text messages he received from Hopkins regarding the car, including one saying, “I’m the f-ing mayor.”

In a statement, Hopkins argued it wasn’t a coincidence that Broccoli filed suit on the eve of his WPRI 12 primary debate against Republican primary rival Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, which was taped Friday morning. He called it “nothing more than a political hit job.”

“That complaint could have been filed years ago but was not,” Hopkins said. “One must ask why Mr. Broccoli never reported the vehicle missing to the police.”

“I have been trying to pay Mr. Broccoli for the vehicle since 2021 and obtain a bill of sale to register it,” he said. “He has refused because I would not show him special treatment on the payment of delinquent taxes. It is a public record that his various properties have been sold at several Cranston tax sales.”

Hopkins also told The Journal: “My legal position is that by giving me the keys he sold me the car.”

Fenton-Fung, a second-term state representative, dismissed Hopkins’ suggestion that the suit was politically motivated.

“This is an enormous 22-page lawsuit with multiple accusations of the worst types of corruption,” she said in a statement. “We will continue to digest this jaw-dropping lawsuit over the weekend, but if these allegations are true, he won’t be in public office much longer.”

John Marion, executive director of good-government group Common Cause Rhode Island, expressed alarm about the allegations contained in the suit.

“The lawsuit against Mayor Hopkins, and the subsequent reporting about that lawsuit, paint a picture of pretty brazen abuse of office,” Marion told 12 News.

“Unfortunately because this was filed so close to the election we won’t know if the facts stand up to scrutiny in a court of law before all the votes are cast,” he said. “However, if what is alleged in the lawsuit is true, Mayor Hopkins not only took possession of the car without paying he likely used his office in multiple ways to violate the state’s ethics laws.”

Hopkins and Fenton-Fung are facing off in the Sept. 10 primary for the Republican nomination for mayor. The winner will go on to face Democrat Robert Ferri in the November election.