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According to a report from city officials, Mount Vernon police were called to Mount Vernon Avenue on Saturday after “an individual was videotaping and questioning workers on a building clean-up site in an intimidating manner.”
Upon further investigation, responding officers determined that the person in question was City Councilman Andre Wallace, who expressed concerns about the debris removal company, which was authorized to perform the contracting work on a Saturday.
Mount Vernon Police Commissioner Ronald Fatigate, who was at the scene, refuted a report claiming that officers responded inappropriately.
“The real truth is Councilman Wallace initiated the first threat, which prompted the situation. The report on BlackWestchester.com omits numerous facts on the incident,” he said in a statement on Sunday. “Even after workers on the site and the owner of the company provided the councilman with the requested information, he continued to provoke and intimidate the building owner and workers on site.”
Danny Moloney, the building’s owner, said that this is the third time he has had to alert the police about Wallace approaching contractors at the location. Wallace could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday afternoon.
“Everyone knows that grime leads to crime and we believe cleaning up this city is an important factor in crime prevention. Having to be called out to a scene by an elected official who should know better is a strain on the department’s limited resources,” Deputy Police Commissioner Joseph Spiezio said.
“We understand that passions may arise particularly due to misleading and false social media and blog posts regarding this incident and we urge the community to remain focused and engaged in positive activities. We will not be bullied by those who try to keep the community in shambles.”
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