By JON BAKER

LINCOLN — A simple backyard “bat-and-catch” baseball game between a father and son quickly developed into a serious case of “hardball” with a neighboring father-son tandem on Tuesday afternoon.

Turns out, Anthony J. Delsignore brought the wrong equipment to the “contest” and lost. Shortly before 5:45 p.m., police arrested Delsignore, 47, of 14 David Drive, on a charge of felony assault with a dangerous weapon, that being a 38-caliber handgun.
The incident began harmlessly enough, with Victor Paiva, a 37-year-old Seekonk resident, and his son visiting the former’s mother and father at their home, located next door at 16 David Drive. Paiva and his boy had been playing ball in the backyard when Anthony L. Delsignore, the arrested man’s dad, moved to his deck and began yelling at them “because the baseball they were using was hitting his fence,” police reported.
“(Victor) Paiva stated that he was involved in a verbal dispute with (the elder Delsignore) when Anthony J. Delsignore also came on the deck and stated he was going to ‘smash (your) teeth out,’” Patrolman Ryan Laboissonniere said in his report. “At that point, Paiva stated, ‘Meet me in the front yard.’”
The victim told Laboissonniere and Officer Brian Molis that the older Delsignore left his home with a crowbar while the younger Delsignore held a baseball bat — and had a black revolver tucked into his pants in plain view.
While the suspect’s father walked to the property line, Anthony J. Delsignore strolled into the street about six feet from Paiva and allegedly pointed the gun at him, saying “I will kill you (expletive).”
The same man then allegedly pointed the firearm at Paiva’s mother, who was also outside, and threatened, “I’m going to kill you if you don’t move,” the report noted.
Paiva, a correctional officer, immediately contacted police.
When backup arrived, Lt. William Sexton told Laboissonniere, Molis and Patrolman Clifford Landry to surround the Delsignore home, and Sexton made phone contact with the suspect, asking he exit the residence with his hands in the air.
“I asked Anthony J. Delsignore if he had any weapons in his vehicle or inside the house, and (he) stated, ‘Yes, in my room next to my bed,’” Laboissonniere reported. “I asked (him) if he had brandished a weapon at his neighbors, and he replied, ‘I had my gun outside while we were arguing, but I never pointed it at them.’”
After receiving permission from the suspect and his father, police checked the bedroom, then the entire residence, seizing a Smith & Wesson handgun, two revolvers amd a shotgun.. Anthony J. Delsignore was arrested for felony assault and processed at headquarters, then arraigned before Justice of the Peace Robert Iuliano before police released him on $10,000 personal recognizance.
Delsignore also was issued a summons to appear at Sixth District Court in Providence on April 29.
“We haven’t had any previous contact with the suspect, but it’s a very serious charge,” Police Chief Brian Sullivan said Wednesday. “This kind of thing doesn’t happen very often here in Lincoln, where a simple game of backyard ball escalates into a felony assault. It could have been tragic, but our officers responded quickly.”