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DPW dispute leads to new lawsuits
Banner Daily Update posted Sat. Sept. 22
By Pru Sowers
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN – A flurry of lawsuits between department of public works director David Guertin and two former DPW workers are currently working their way through the courts.
Last week, a pre-trial conference for a criminal harassment suit filed by Guertin against former DPW worker Larry Flores was continued until Oct. 11. And an Oct. 16 court date has been set in a separate criminal case filed by former DPW worker Scott Enos against Guertin for alleged witness tampering.
Guertin had filed criminal harassment charges against Flores, who resigned from the DPW last year as part of a negotiated settlement, for allegedly threatening him on three occasions. If convicted, Flores faces a sentence of no more than 2.5 years in jail or a fine of no more than $1,000.
According to a Provincetown Police report based on Guertin’s statement, Flores first approached his former boss on Sept. 21, 2006 in the parking lot of the Grand Union grocery story and began yelling and swearing at Guertin.
The second incident allegedly took place on May 10 when Flores passed Guertin and DPW staffer Ron Gamella on Bradford Street. At that time, according to Guertin, Flores extended his middle finger and swore at him.
The most recent incident took place on May 21 and involved an alleged confrontation between Guerin and Flores on Alden Street, when Flores was driving by, according to Guertin.
“Flores stopped the vehicle, got out and ran up to Guertin, just short of knocking him down. Flores then began yelling at Guertin, ‘what the f--- are you going to do about it and why the f--- don’t you call the police,’” the police report states.
Flores on Friday denied that he had threatened Guertin on any occasion but acknowledged the two men had words on the three incident dates. Guertin flipped him the middle finger first in the May 21 incident, which caused Flores to get out of his car and tell Guertin he was going to call the police.
“I never threatened him or got physical. I told him exactly what I thought of him,” Flores said.
The lawsuit against Guertin for alleged witness tampering had to do with the Sept. 21, 2006 incident in the Grand Union parking lot. Enos accompanied Flores at the time and Enos has been called as a witness for the defense in Guertin’s case against Flores. At an initial court hearing for that case in July, according to Enos’ lawsuit, Guertin saw Enos in the Orleans District Court House. Guertin then allegedly called Enos’ supervisor at J&L Trucking, where he was working, and tried to get Enos in trouble. According to Enos, he had cleared the time off with his supervisor.
Guertin was on vacation this week and unavailable for comment.
Flores was charged with abusing vacation and sick time while working at the DPW, charges that were not substantiated by a union arbitrator. Flores was offered another job at the DPW but refused, instead accepting $10,000 in back pay in May 2006.
Enos, a former water department employee, was charged with attempting to steal a windshield wiper motor from a town-owned truck parked at the highway garage. A magistrate in Orleans District Court ruled that charge had no probable cause. In an earlier incident, Enos and two other DPW workers were suspended in without pay in January 2006 for using water department equipment on a private job they benefited from financially.
For more on this story see the Sept. 27 Provincetown Banner.
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Sep 20th, 2007