Man Targets Workers With Racist Slurs in Marblehead

MARBLEHEAD, MA - A Marblehead business owner and his family have lodged a complaint with police after being racially harassed over the past few weeks.

On Dec. 11, Marblehead resident Coleen Shea contacted police to report that her husband and his painting crew had been harassed several times by the same man at the Dunkin Donuts in Village Plaza.

Shea said her husband, who owns Tico's Painting in Swampscott have been going to the same Dunkin Donuts in Village Plaza for years.

"It's their meeting spot in the morning before they head to work," she said in an interview this week.

According to a police report, Shea's husband and his crew, who are mostly Latino, were getting coffee just before 8 a.m. on Dec. 11 when a white male in his mid-50s started yelling slurs at them.

The suspect who drove a white SUV, allegedly said "Get out of my way sp---" and "I don't need to
be standing behind sp---" before leaving the coffee shop and speeding away in his vehicle.

Shea said this isn't the first time the man has harassed her husband and his employees.

"This has happened on a few different occasions over the last couple of months," she said. "The last time this happened it almost devolved into a fight because my husband was so mad."

This time, Shea said, it was the last straw, as the suspect threatened to call the police on her husband.

Marblehead Police Chief Robert Picariello said, after learning of the incident, he reached out to Helaine Hazlett, a chair Town’s Taskforce against Discrimination.

An ex-officio member, Picariello said he planned on bringing it up at the next meeting.

"I would also say that this behavior is unacceptable and any type of discrimination needs to be confronted and can’t be tolerated," he said. " I applaud the people for calling and letting us know. That can take a lot of courage to make that call."

Police told Shea and her husband that if it happens again to look for the man's license plate.

"These guys have to deal with this type of treatment on a regular basis, but when it's the same person harassing them, it's time to report them," she said.

Shea said she's disheartened the harassment has continued in Marblehead.

"My husband is angry and hurt that his workers have been treated this way," she said. "It's not like it was someone just passing through either, this person obviously lives in the area."