DiPietro pleads not guilty to harassment
Ex-East Aurora mayor arraigned in Wales
Former East Aurora Mayor David J. DiPietro, accused of verbally harassing a former political ally on his last day as mayor, pleaded not guilty to a harassment charge Thursday night in Wales Town Court.
DiPietro, who is running against veteran State Sen. Dale M. Volker in a rare Republican primary battle this fall, was arraigned on second-degree harassment, a violation. Anne M. Leary is pressing charges after she filed a complaint alleging that DiPietro cursed her when she came into Village Hall to pay her water bill at 11:45 a. m. April 7.
In an interview this week, Leary said DiPietro came up to her while she was at the counter in the village clerk’s office and said: “I want you to know what a big piece of [expletive] you are.”
She said he then accused her of being out to ruin him politically and then allegedly told her, “You’re going to get what’s coming to you.”
DiPietro has declined to comment based on the advice of his attorney, Patrick Quinlivan. He said a prepared statement would later be forwarded to The Buffalo News.
Leary said she finally asked DiPietro to get “out of my space.”
“And I left as quickly as I could and called the police,” she told The News. “I have to prosecute because he’s crossed the boundary as an elected official while he was still in office.”
The police report on the incident, which she filed the night of April 7, said DiPietro initially approached her from behind while she was in Village Hall and said, “Anne Leary, you are one person who has a lot of nerve coming here,“ the complaint said, noting that other village staffers were present at the time.
DiPietro then walked away, and came back, and allegedly cursed her. Leary then asked DiPietro, “What are you talking about?”
“You’ve undermined everything I’ve tried to do. You are going to get what’s coming to you,” DiPietro told Leary, according to police records.
Leary, who has been politically active in the area for some time, said she did not work on DiPietro’s most recent re-election campaign, in which he ended up losing to political newcomer Clark Crook.
“Four years ago, I worked on his campaign but didn’t get involved in the 2008 election,“ she said.
Leary, who at one point worked on former Aurora Supervisor Terry Yarnall’s campaign, was appointed in 2004 by Yarnall to head a new joint municipal facilities committee that was to study housing government under one roof. Leary also has served as president of Citizens for a Better Government and was a prominent voice in the fight to keep Wal- Mart out of East Aurora.
A change of venue was instituted in the DiPietro case, and it was transferred to Wales Town Court, where motions are scheduled to be heard July 24.
