Peter Vasconcellos accused of dumping screws on Freetown road for weeks
FREETOWN - A Freetown man has been arrested in connection with screws being intentionally placed along a busy road in town. For three weeks, highway workers have cleaned up hundreds of screws, leaving punctured tires and frustrations high.
"We've been finding on average 30 to 50 screws every time we make a pass," said Charles Macomber, Freetown's highway surveyor.
Macomber says the screws were being dumped on South Main Street between Narrows Road and the Stop and Shop distribution center over a roughly half mile area.
On Tuesday afternoon, Freetown Police arrested 56-year-old Peter Vasconcellos, who lives on South Main Street where the screws have been placed.
He is charged with operating a vehicle after license revoked, operating a vehicle with revoked registration, and uninsured operation. In his car, police said they found screws identical to those recovered from the road. Police said screws were found in the driver's door compartment and an open box of screws was behind the center console.
Freetown crews have been using magnets to clean up the area three to four times a day. Each time, they come back and find more.
"Usually, myself and my foreman will spend on average two and a half to three hours a day walking up this half mile stretch of road picking up screws," Macomber said.
The screws have damaged dozens of tires. Jamie Levasseur, who works at PJ's Tire Inc. in town, says his shop sees roughly 50 tires a week with screws in them.
"People are mad," Levasseur said.
Anyone who has had their tires damaged on this road is asked to contact Freetown Police.