Hearing to dismiss charges against former Worcester candidate set for Thursday
- Former Worcester School Committee candidate faces charges for dousing police officer with water during ICE operation, with a hearing to dismiss charges set for Thursday.
A hearing to dismiss charges against a former Worcester School Committee candidate who doused water on a police officer during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation is set for Thursday.
Ashley R. Spring, who uses they/them pronouns, was charged with misdemeanors of assault and battery on a police officer, disorderly conduct and interfering with police officers.
Spring was also charged with a felony of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, which was in reality a baby bottle with water inside.
Prosecutors, however, dropped the charge involving a dangerous weapon on July 23.
A hearing on a motion to dismiss the remaining charges will take place at 9 a.m. at the Worcester District Court.
The charges stem from an interaction between Spring and a Worcester Police Officer during an ICE operation on May 8. Agents arrested Rosane Ferreira-De Oliveira, a Brazilian mother of three, on Eureka Street that day.
Spring was one of many people who confronted and protested the ICE agents during the arrest. After 11 a.m. members of the Worcester Police Department arrived on the street, telling people that they were conducting an unlawful assembly.
A gold SUV that ICE agents had placed Ferreira-De Oliveira inside began to drive away from the crowd. As the vehicle began to leave, the mother's 17-year-old daughter ran after it.
Officer Juan Vallejo was one of the officers who was near the daughter during the arrest, according to his body camera footage.
Following the arrest of the daughter, Vallejo turns his attention to Spring, who is standing behind him and being handcuffed by another officer.
At the 2:30 mark in the video, Vallejo approaches Spring and points his finger at her, listing charges for another officer: "Disorderly, disturbance, and she sprayed me in the face with water."
As he moves away from her, the audio catches Spring saying, "It was water."
Even though Spring and Vallejo both stated that the liquid sprayed was water, the police report indicates that Spring sprayed the officer with an "unknown liquid."
Spring initially qualified for the city's general election ballot as a candidate for School District A, running against incumbent committee member Molly O. McCullough.
The city's board of elections, however, ruled that they were ineligible to be on ballot due to not meeting the city charter's residency requirement,
Thursday's hearing will coincide with another motion to dismiss hearing for District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj , who was also present at the ICE operation.
Haxhiaj was charged with one misdemeanor count of assault and battery on a police officer and one common law violation for interfering with a police officer.
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