From ROAD RAGE to AIR RAGE to...

Papa Shango

Road Rage and Air Rage are for ***gots.. There is a new form of rage in town. Read on.



STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) Perhaps it's just a seasonal affliction, but a North Stamford man has been arrested in what was described as a ''leaf rage'' incident.

Michael Peters, 67, became angry when city employees told him they would not remove leaves from his property, police said. He was arrested Monday after confronting town workers clearing leaves in his neighborhood.

Operations supervisor Robert Gerbert said Peters was a ''raving maniac.''

''He grabbed my jacket and said, 'You're not going anywhere,''' Gerbert said. ''The guy was spitting and swearing it was the most disgusting scene I've ever seen.''

Peters said he's frustrated that his leaves have not been picked up in the more than three decades he has lived at his home.

''I went berserk. I got very angry,'' Peters said. ''After 34 years, things build up. I am a taxpayer. ... All I am trying to do is get a service that's being offered to all of my neighbors.''

Officials said the leaves weren't collected because they were on Peters' right of way, not the street where workers collect them, officials said.

City worker Jim Crabb said crews would have likely come back to Peters' home perhaps later that day to pick up the leaves had he asked politely.

''We're not big, mean ogres,'' he said.

Police charged Peters with breach of peace, a misdemeanor, and issued him a summons to appear in court Dec. 1.

Highways Division Supervisor Michael Zarba said he could not recall a similar dispute over leaf pickups in his eight years on the job.

''There have been issues where we've had to talk to residents and tried to calm them down, but nothing where we've had to call police,'' he said. ''People get very emotional about leaves.''

Frank Fedeli, supervisor of the Citizens' Service Center, said Peters called the center after his arrest to complain that his leaves had still not been picked up.

''That's chutzpah,'' Fedeli said.


Information from: The Advocate, http://www.stamfordadvocate.com