WORCESTER — Restaurateur John M. Piccolo was arraigned on an assault charge Friday in connection with November incident at City Hall in which a local activist was hit with spray paint outside a City Council meeting.
Piccolo, in a Central District Court arraignment that lasted about a minute, was released on personal recognizance on a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He declined a request for comment.
A lawyer for Piccolo, Sean C. Murray, agreed that an order be issued preventing Piccolo from contacting the man who was sprayed, David Webb.
Webb attended the hearing and spoke to reporters, saying the Nov. 19 experience was traumatizing and questioning the city’s response.
Webb’s partner alleged a man who was with Piccolo had threatened him following the hearing, an allegation the Telegram & Gazette did not witness and could not independently verify.
Webb’s assault outside the City Council meeting was caught on City Hall video that the T&G obtained from the city. The footage shows a man in a dark hat spraying paint on Webb outside the Esther Howland Chamber. Inside, councilors were listening to the national anthem as the meeting was getting started.
Webb can be seen swinging at the man, who then nearly crashes into a display case; the man struggled with another person before leaving.
According to the police incident report the T&G obtained through a public records request, Piccolo was identified by Councilor-at-Large and City Council Vice Chair Khrystian King and police Sgt. Jason Powers, who had prior dealings with Piccolo.
Piccolo is the longtime owner of Piccolo’s restaurant at 157 Shrewsbury St., as well as president of the Shrewsbury Street Merchants Association.
David Webb, second from right, watches as John Piccolo walks to the microphone to be arraigned.
Earlier Facebook post
The spray-paint attack took place a week after Webb wrote a Facebook post in which he criticized an event Piccolo’s hosted for School Committee member Dianna Biancheria.
In the post, Webb characterized the event as a “racist convention,” and he used a version of Piccolo’s logo.
Webb told reporters after Piccolo’s arraignment that he believes the attack was retaliation for the post.
He said he’d never met Piccolo before the incident, and that it caused him fear and trauma that has led him to talk to a therapist.
Webb said he will not be deterred from activism, saying that if anything, what happened solidified his activism and his plans to run for office.
Piccolo’s case is not being handled by Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.’s office; it has been transferred to the office of Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan.
A prosecutor for Sullivan, Jared Hirsch, did not request bail Friday for Piccolo, and did not read information about the case in court after Murray waived such reading.
Worcester District Court Judge Timothy Bibaud released Piccolo on personal recognizance – a promise to appear in court – and set a pretrial conference for March 4.
Piccolo will be required to stay away from and not contact Webb as a result of him not contesting Hirsch’s request for such an order.
Webb had previously been denied an attempt to obtain a restraining order against Piccolo in court.
Prior to arraignment, Piccolo and Webb stayed away from each other outside the courtroom, and sat on different sides of the courtroom gallery when the case was called.
After the brief arraignment, outside the courtroom, Webb’s partner alleged to a court officer that a man standing with Piccolo had just threatened him physically.
The Telegram & Gazette asked the man, who was still waiting for an elevator with Piccolo, if he had threatened Webb’s partner; he replied that he did not know the person, and declined to give his name.
Court officers advised the partner he could file a complaint with the Worcester police liaison’s officer in the courthouse.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Piccolo’s restaurant owner arraigned in Worcester spray paint attack