Man takes out anger on 8-foot tall Moses statue

It was a different kind of road rage. Brendan Pemberton, 42, of Tyngsborough, had just learned he owed $165 for a 20-year-old speeding ticket that resulted in his licence getting suspended. So he took out his frustrations on a towering statue of Moses in Worcester District Court on Thursday, police said, knocking the 148-year-old sculpture off its pedestal and sending it crashing to the floor.

State Trooper James B. Ellis, who was standing 15 feet from the statue and dressed in full uniform at the time, said Pemberton walked over to the 8-foot sculpture and angrily shoved it a couple of times. "He was in a rage and really lost control," Ellis said. "It went right over."



Pemberton now faces much bigger problems than a speeding ticket and a suspended licence.

He was charged with malicious destruction of property, disturbing the peace, and being a disorderly person. At his arraignment yesterday, a judge ordered Pemberton held on $10,000 bail and sent to Worcester State Hospital for a competency evaluation.