EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – An East Providence man says he was wrongfully accused of vandalizing a patriotic crosswalk on a neighborhood street, and he’s calling on Mayor Bob DaSilva for an apology as he prepares a lawsuit against the city for damaging his reputation.
Michael Dellefratte, 62, was arrested by East Providence police in May and charged with vandalism. Police accused him of spinning the tires of his 1969 Chevy Nova through a red white and blue intersection that had been painted at Turner Avenue and Arnold Street for Memorial Day.
But Dellefratte, a self-described patriot who helps maintain a veterans’ memorial along the East Bay Bike Path in Barrington, said he never peeled out in that intersection and that the city got the wrong guy. A judge ordered the misdemeanor charge dismissed this month and the case was expunged from his record.
“They were wrong from the start and they should pay,” Dellefratte told Target 12.
East Providence Mayor Bob DaSilva disagreed and he lauded his police officers for their work.