City 'employee of the month' cleared of unlawful weapon charge

The driver of a City of Columbia garbage truck, and one-time "employee of the month," may be doing more than just collecting trash these days — if you believe the statements in a recent police report, he's talking an awful lot of it.
"Motherfucking faggot, are you sucking dick again?" That's what a Columbia man alleges the driver of a city garbage truck — identified by police as the same man who was a 2005 city "employee of the month" — screamed at him from a city vehicle on a downtown street corner March 29. The driver was later cleared of the charges in court.
The report states that the 29-year-old complainant said it was not the first time he'd been harassed by the jive-talking junk man and asked another worker on the truck to tell the driver to quit calling him names.
Following a brief argument between the driver and the complainant, the driver allegedly pulled out a knife and "brandished it as if he were going to use it," according to the report.
The complainant told police that he backed away and went for help, flagged down an officer and explained what had happened.
According to the report, police stopped the truck shortly thereafter on Assembly Street.
Police say the driver told them that the complainant had approached him "with his hands under his arms" and that he thought the guy "might have a gun." He also told the officers that he did not brandish a knife. When an officer asked him if he had a knife, the driver handed over a lock-blade knife, which the officers seized and tagged as evidence.
In late 2005, the driver in question was presented the award of "employee of the month" by the city's director of public works. According to Columbia City Council minutes, Mayor Bob Coble and City Manager Charles Austin both presented him with various tokens of appreciation. Then Solid Waste Superintendent Robert Anderson described him at the time as "an employee that is not always seen, but is known as the go-to guy that quickly responds to all matters."
Columbia Police spokesman Brick Lewis said the department had investigated the case, which, as far as he knew, had gone to trial where the driver was found not guilty.

-City Paper staff report

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