Louis A. Calabrese, 69, of 198 Maple St., a 20-year member of the planning board, was arrested for allegedly failing to comply with police orders at the scene of a motorcycle accident on Maple Street Saturday night.
EAST LONGMEADOW -- It was a perfect recipe for calamity, according to police: a motorcycle accident, hundreds of people trying to exit a summer carnival and an impatient motorist who apparently couldn't wait his turn.
That was the scenario Saturday night on Maple Street in East Longmeadow, where police arrested a hot-headed motorist -- a former longtime town official -- for allegedly causing a disturbance as authorities were dealing with the double whammy of a motorcycle accident and large crowds exiting the Jaycees Summer Carnival in Veterans Park.
Louis A. Calabrese, 69, of 198 Maple St., was handcuffed and charged with disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace for allegedly causing a scene as police and medical personnel were tending to an injured motorcycle rider on Maple Street around 10:25 p.m. Saturday.
"When the officer told him to get back in his car, he repeatedly refused to do so," East Longmeadow Police Sgt. Patrick Manley said Sunday. "None of this would have happened if he had listened to the officer's instructions."
Police claim Calabrese exited the parking lot of Sunny's Mart, 43 Maple St., then cut across traffic to the parking lot of a catering business across the street from the convenience store. Manley said Calabrese was attempting to reach Maple Court, a narrow lane abutting the catering business that connects Maple Street to Shaker Road.
"He didn't want to wait," Manley said, noting that public safety officials were simultaneously contending with carnival traffic and a motor vehicle accident .
When an officer ordered Calabrese to stop, the senior citizen exited his silver sedan and proceeded to swear at the officer, according to Manley.
"He said, 'Who the (expletive) are you yelling at' to the officer, then told him, 'I pay your (expletive) salary,'" Manley said.
Manley described a chaotic scene, with an injured motorcyclist "lying on the ground" and carnivalgoers heading home for the night.
"(Calabrese) ended up getting arrested because he refused to comply with the officer's directions, and he continued to cause a scene," Manley said.
Calabrese was a 20-year member of the East Longmeadow Planning Board, serving from 1987 to 2007. His family were longtime owners of the Countryside Store on Somers Road in East Longmeadow.
Meanwhile, the motorcycle rider was taken to Baystate Medical Center with serious but non-life-threatening "leg and back injuries," Manley said.
Other than the alleged disturbance involving Calabrese, the annual summer carnival went off without a hitch. The carnival and accompanying fireworks are a major fundraiser for the Jaycees, an organization that donates thousands of dollars annually to civic organizations, agencies, and schools.
The fireworks are scheduled to begin at dusk on Sunday at East Longmeadow High School's athletic field.