What to Know
- The City of Mount Vernon says that an overnight sabotage temporarily disabled all DPW trucks, including snow plow trucks and salt trucks
- Latex gloves were allegedly stuffed into fuel talks of DPW trucks, which prompted them to break down when they went out at 6 a.m. Tuesday
- A total of 13 plows and 16 sanitation trucks were vandalized, officials say; The incident is being investigated as a case of vandalism
An overnight sabotage temporarily disabled City of Mount Vernon's entire DPW truck fleet, including snow plow trucks and salting truck, a city spokesperson said.
Latex gloves were stuffed into the fuel tanks of all DPW trucks, which prompted them to break down when they went out at 6 a.m. Tuesday, the city's spokesperson said, adding when officials went to see what was wrong, they allegedly found the gloves.
A total of 13 plows and 16 sanitation trucks were vandalized, officials say.
"They started going truck by truck and low and behold rubber gloves were found inside all the tanks,” Edgar Torres, the garage superintendent, said.
There was no permanent damage as all the gloves were removed and the trucks were back on the road by 10 this morning, but police are investigating the incident as an act of vandalism.
One or more people are believed to have entered the garage at 20 Canal St. between 3:30 p.m. Monday and 5 a.m. Tuesday and stuffed latex gloves in the gas tanks of the city’s municipal trucks, city officials say.
Mayor Richard Thomas called the vandalism an attack on all the residents of Mount Vernon.
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“We are shocked and saddened by the direct act of intimidation,” Thomas said. “We’re very aggravated by the constant harassment by groups of people that want to obstruct progress and the protection of the people of the city.”
Thomas asked that residents limit their use of the city’s streets on Tuesday afternoon while city works complete their plowing and salting that was delayed for several hours by the incident.
