Published: August 29, 2008 03:46 pm            

FRIDAY: Falls DPW worker charged with ‘hate crime’ for sign (3:46 p.m.)

A longtime Niagara Falls employee has been arrested for what police called a “hate crime” — placing a racially charged sign above a drinking fountain inside a Department of Public Works building.

James Curtis, 52, was charged with felony second-degree aggravated harassment under the hate crime category and was being held on $500 bail, Police Superintendent John Chella said during a brief press conference this afternoon at City Hall.

Curtis, a white worker who has been employed in DPW for 26 years, is accused of putting up a sign with the words “Whites Only Water Fountain” above a newly installed fountain inside a building at the city’s corporation yard on New Road.

The sign was found by a minority worker during the night shift on Aug. 13 and prompted a police investigation that also included the assistance of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office.

Chella said Curtis is expected to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Niagara Falls City Court.

Speaking briefly to the media, Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster called the incident “reprehensible” and said the city will also be commencing disciplinary proceedings against Curtis.

For the complete story, read Saturday’s Niagara Gazette.

        

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