Gloucester man arrested, charged with assault and battery after incident at public works facility

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — A Gloucester man was arrested Thursday morning after driving into a worker at the City’s Department of Public Works facility.

71-year-old William Evans was taken into custody and charged with:

• Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon
• Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle

Gloucester police say that around 11:58 a.m., officers were dispatched to the city’s DPW facility to reports of an ‘unwelcome individual on the property.’ While officers made their way to the facility, they recieved an update that a DPW worker had been struck by a vehicle.

Once on the scene, officers located the individual who was identified as Evans.

Police say a preliminary investigation revealed that Evans went to the DPW to drop off recycling before the facility was open. Residents of the city normally have their trash/recycling picked up, but due to the ongoing trash strike, residents were told that they can drop their recycling off at the facility from 12-6 p.m.

Evans had arrived early for drop off and refused to move his vehicle so as not to block any of the DPW vehicles. Evans then drove his vehicle into the worker, but fortunately, nobody was injured.

Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga issued a statement on Thursday addressing the frustration that the town is facing with the ongoing trash strike, but alerting residents that the actions taken by Evan’s “is not okay.”

<i>I know how frustrating the trash and recycling disruptions have been. I’m frustrated too, both as a resident and as Mayor.</i>

<i>But I want to be clear, this situation is the result of a labor stoppage at Republic Services, the private company contracted to handle Gloucester’s trash pickup. While this is happening outside of the City’s control, our team, especially our DPW staff, has really stepped up to help fill the gaps. They’ve expanded drop-off hours, worked extra shifts, and answered hundreds of calls and emails, all in an effort to support the community through this challenge.</i>

<i>Unfortunately, today something happened that we cannot ignore. A DPW staff member was injured at the recycling drop-off site by someone who, according to staff, was refusing to follow instructions. And this wasn’t the only incident, we’ve also had multiple reports of verbal abuse toward staff in the office and on the ground.</i>

<i>This kind of behavior is not okay. Not now, not ever.</i>

<i>Our City workers are doing their best. They’re your neighbors, showing up every day to help keep things going while we work through a difficult and frustrating situation that they didn’t cause.</i>

<i>I’m very thankful our injured staff member is okay. But we can’t let things escalate like this. Everyone is doing their part, and what we need from the public is patience, respect, and understanding.</i>

<i>We’ll keep doing everything we can to manage this situation and support residents. Please remember to treat each other with kindness while we get through it, together.</i>

—  Mayor Greg Verga, City of Gloucester

Evans was then taken into custody without incident and is scheduled to be arraigned in Gloucester District Court on Friday.

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