Worcester city worker under investigation after driving into park, reportedly grazing man

WORCESTER, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- A Worcester city employee is reportedly under investigation after a bizarre incident at a local park.

A man drove an SUV onto a field at a Paxton park, that is owned by Worcester and used by dog walkers, when several dogs started chasing the vehicle. As the pet owners yelled at the driver to stop, one man says he was grazed by the vehicle. The employee was apparently trying to enforce an ordinance which bans dogs from all Worcester parks.

FOX25 News was the only television station to obtain some of the video showing what happened at Boynton Park when witnesses say a park security officer crashed through a chain and drove over a log and boulder onto a field where owners were playing with their pets. They say he started driving in circles and yelling at them about their dogs. The employee in question did share some of his side of the story with FOX25.

In the video footage, you can see Alain Deflandre driving his park security vehicle back off the field.

One dog owner, Michael Slarskey, who was out of state Tuesday, tried to approach and talk to Deflandre but he says the city worker just drove right at him.

"About 30 yards away he saw me when he turned around and he just headed straight at me, like it was a game of chicken," he said.

Slarskey says the city vehicle hit him in the arm and wrist, breaking his watch. Then, "he just sped off."

The city recently hired two security officers to start enforcing the new rule that bans dogs from parks. Deflandre told FOX25 on the phone that he cannot talk about what happened until the investigation is over, but he did say, "I sympathize with the dog owners. This should have never escalated to this. I was just doing my job."

The city told FOX25 Tuesday that police are looking into what happened. The security officer is still working for the parks department while this is being sorted out.

Cox Media Group