Town official criminally charged for repainting faded crosswalks

George Simolaris, a selectman in Billerica, Massachusetts, is in trouble with the law for repainting six faded crosswalks in his town. He said his constituents kept asking him why nothing was been done about it so he took matters into his own hands, by purchasing green paint and refreshing the crosswalks.

"All I've heard for months is: 'When is this going to get done?'" Simolaris said. "I got sick of it."

Police and town officials said painting the street without authorization was illegal and charged him with two counts of destruction of property, according to Billerica police spokesman Roy Frost.

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Town Manager John Curran (above, right) defended the charges, saying Simolaris had "no respect for the governmental process," adding that Simolaris would be charged $4,000 for the cost of cleaning up his paint job, which smeared across the road.