A Department of Sanitation worker faces a number of charges after a bat-swinging road rage incident on Staten Island over the weekend. 42-year-old Joseph Pasquale, who has been with the department for 18 years, was driving his white Ford pickup truck on Staten Island Saturday morning when he allegedly cut off an unidentified 22-year-old woman. In response, she reportedly honked her horn. An outrage! Pasquale certainly wasn't going to stand for that level of disrespect—especially not with his 5-year-old daughter in the cab with him. And he allegedly keeps a baseball bat handy for just such teachable moments.
The young woman's father, who later rushed to her aid, tells the Staten Island Advance Pasquale slammed his breaks and got out of the truck to confront her. She prudently stayed inside her vehicle as Pasquale allegedly kicked her passenger door and broke off the passenger-side mirror. Message sent, Pasquale drove on, but then he realized the woman was writing down his license plate number, so he allegedly hit the brakes and blocked her again. According to her father, she managed to squeeze by him and escape, but damaged the side door of his truck in the process. Strike two!
Pasquale allegedly chased the woman onto the Staten Island Expressway, and when she exited, he cut her off a third time and then advanced on her car brandishing the baseball bat. (We're guessing he told his daughter, "Watch closely, honey, Daddy's gonna hit some dingers.") Luckily, the young victim had already been in touch with her father, who called 911 and raced to the scene, where Pasquale allegedly yelled at him, "You want a piece of me? I'll kick your a--!" Her dad tells the Advance, "This is all because she honked the horn at him because he cut her off. This guy is foaming at the mouth... This is a guy who's a total inconsiderate. There was no reason for that at all."
Pasquale is charged with second-degree menacing, fourth-degree criminal mischief, fourth-degree criminal mischief, second-degree reckless endangerment, endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of second-degree harassment. His lawyer says he's "been looking for a way to apologize to the woman, but a judge's order of protection prevents him from contacting her."
