An employee of a Port Chester landscaping company was arrested in Rye Wednesday after a dispute with police over the use of gas-powered leaf blowers, authorities reported.
Alejandro Espinoza-Barajas, 43, was charged with misdemeanor obstruction of governmental administration on Nov. 26, after allegedly refusing to provide identification when a Rye police officer stopped him for using multiple gas-powered leaf blowers simultaneously.
While driving on Oakland Beach Avenue, a Rye cop saw a lawn maintenance crew using two gas-powered leaf blowers and two “additional pieces” of gas-powered lawn machinery at the same time, which is against the city’s local ordinance.
The officer approached the crew to inform them of the violation, according to the Rye Police Department, and requested identification of the three-person FJ Barajas Lawn Maintenance crew.
Two of the workers provided ID “without issue,” according to police, but the third, later identified as Espinoza-Barajas, “became upset and refused to provide his identification after multiple requests.” The officer then arrested the man for allegedly refusing to comply.
Espinoza-Barajas was released from custody after processing, and is due back in Rye City Court on Dec. 16.
