Tougher Penalties Urged For SanWorker Assaults

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow 'UNACCEPTABLE CONDUCT': The attack on Sanitation Worker Juan Ramos (front) by a berserk motorist that sent him to the hospital with broken ribs last September led Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association President Harry Nespoli (behind him at left) to demand that the law be changed to make such assaults felonies. Also flanking Mr. Ramos is Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes, who is lobbying for the bill.

Sanitation Worker Juan Ramos, who is diminutive, soft-spoken and 74 years old, is not the type of person likely to provoke someone to attack him with a shovel. He looks more like a grandfather than someone still capable of picking up garbage all day.

There he was, however, on the steps of City Hall Feb. 26 as the poster boy for a bill that would make assault on a Sanitation Worker a C felony. In a low voice, Mr. Ramos recalled being hospitalized with broken ribs after a still-unknown assailant beat him on Sept. 27 while making his collection rounds in upper Manhattan.

'Protect Them Like Cops'

Mr. Ramos, Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association President Harry Nespoli and Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes called for the State Legislature to pass a law to put assaulting a Sanitation Worker on the same legal plane as assaults against Police Officers and Firefighters.

"Giving my members the same protection as other uniformed personnel raises the bar for anyone who wants to assault a Sanitation Worker," said Mr. Nespoli. "We hope it will make people think twice before getting abusive."

If the bill, sponsored in the State Legislature by Assemblyman Brooklyn Joseph Lentol, were to take effect, anyone who assaulted a Sanitation Worker would face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Mr. Ramos was picking up garbage at 6:30 a.m. in Washington Heights when a driver who was blocked by his truck became outraged. He grabbed a shovel from the truck and hit Mr. Ramos twice in the ribs with it, sending him to the hospital. "This guy got angry that he wants to go through, then he was kicking, then he got mad and took a shovel from the truck and hit me twice," Mr. Ramos said at City Hall.

He was out of work for two weeks before he went back to his Manhattan collection route. He is considering retirement in a few months after more than 21 years on the job.

'Some Think They're Fair Game'

"There are some people who think that the men and women in uniform in this city, whether they're Bus Drivers or Sanitation Workers, are fair game and open season for attacks," Mr. Hynes said. "This kind of conduct is just unacceptable."

Mr. Nespoli said Sanitation Workers needed this protection because the trucks are often an irritant to motorists who become stuck behind them. "It's a big truck, you can't hide it," he said. "Sometimes people stuck behind them don't have the patience, but my men have a boss, they have to finish" the route.

"Since this incident I'm telling my men, if you see that the traffic is building up behind you, go around the block and come back to the stop," Mr. Nespoli said. "But people have to realize they have to come back to that stop again."

As with similar legislation covering other employee groups that has come before it, those gathered at City Hall said the bill was meant to send a message that an attack on a public servant would have its consequences. "Police officers, firefighters, bus drivers and sanitation workers are not to be faced with the kind of inane attacks that have happened," Mr. Hynes said.

The Brooklyn DA, which has an office dedicated to attacks on some public employees, will now add Sanitation Workers to the list. Mr. Nespoli recently asked for a meeting with Mr. Hynes during which the DA agreed the legislation was a good idea.

City Councilman David Weprin plans to introduce a resolution in the council in support of the bill. "The uniformed sanitation workers are very hard working employees; they are public servants; they should be recognized as public servants and any assault, especially a physical assault, on a uniformed sanitation worker should be considered a felony," he said.

Last July, a law took effect that made assault on a Traffic Enforcement Agent a felony instead of a misdemeanor.