Degnan, who fought a bitter race against incumbent Assemblyman Greg Ball, said he was placing new signs along Route 100 in Somers Sunday evening, and on his way back to Brewster he noticed a car stopped alongside the road. The car's driver was removing the just-placed signs and putting them into the trunk of his car.
Degnan said he made a U-turn and pulled up alongside the stopped vehicle when "the driver placed the shift into reverse and attempted to flee. When the man realized that wouldn't work, he put the car into forward position and clipped me between the rear panel and the side view mirror, knocking into my elbow, ankle and shin."
Degnan said a witness observed the alleged incident and after calling 911, troopers from the Somers barracks responded.
Degnan refused medical treatment at the scene and went to the barracks where an investigation took place.
No charges were lodged, since police considered the incident an "accident."
Authorities said "any campaign sign on public property is considered abandoned and is, therefore, no longer private property."
Sgt. Mark Barbera of the Somers State Police confirmed that an incident had occurred.
"Mr. Degnan was not injured, since he refused medical treatment. He came upon the man removing his signs and the guy got into his car and as he turned the wheel the front end of the vehicle bumped the candidate. Mr. Degnan did not require hospital treatment. The man who hit him remained at the scene," Barbera said.
State Police Monday contacted the Westchester District Attorney's office and according to the sergeant, police were told to refer the matter to the State Police Division Counsel.
"The counsel said no charges would be pressed since the signs were on public lands," said Barbera.
Degnan said a dozen political signs were found in the trunk of the man's car, whom Degnan identified as Chris Arnold of Yorktown, a former newspaper reporter from Westchester who worked on the Ball re-election campaign.
However, state police would not identify the driver of the car involved since no charges were pressed.
When contacted Monday, Ball said Arnold had not worked on his campaign. Ball then called the story, "political crap. This is insane!"
However, Taconic Press received a communication on Oct. 30 from a Christopher Arnold questioning whether Ball's questionnaire information had been posted on the Courier Web site.
The e-mailed message said: "I do not see the 99th Assembly District questionnaire we filled out. I had emailed it to you with the photo a couple of weeks ago--I was wondering if perhaps there wasn't enough room or it was just an oversight by the web designer. Regards, Christopher Arnold, Communications Director, New Yorkers on the Ball."
Degnan, when discussing the incident on Election Day-eve, said "There is nothing in politics worth your health. He could have killed me!"
|
|
