MA- The heat’s on ice cream truck vendors

6-30-2009 Massachusetts:

Pol proposes background checks to weed out pervs

We all scream for ice cream, but lawmakers want to ensure no one’s yelling about who’s driving the ice cream trucks this summer.

State Sen. Michael R. Knapik is proposing to outlaw convicted sex offenders from manning ice cream trucks - incredibly, a rarity nationwide. But don’t expect a soft serve when the bill comes up for debate tomorrow afternoon.

A dozen other pols have signed on in support of the Westfield Republican’s anti-perv petition, which would mandate anyone applying for or renewing an ice cream truck permit to submit to the state their photograph and fingerprints. Applicants would also be subjected to criminal background checks.

“I think there should be drug and alcohol testing on top of that,” chimed in Dylan Archambault of Lowell-based Dylan and Pete’s Ice Cream, a family fleet hired out principally for special events and run so tight the drivers wear uniforms.


“I don’t see how anyone could be opposed to something like (Knapik’s bill),” Archambault said. “It would clean up the industry. An ice cream man could come in contact with hundreds of kids daily.”

Sex offenders, he said, “give people like me a bad name.”

Any offender caught dealing in fudgsicles would face up to 2 years in jail and heavy fines. Knapik is further asking the state to empower police to arrest dicey drivers lickety split, without first obtaining a warrant.

Peter Christopoulos of Sweet Pete’s Ice Cream said, “It’s a good idea, but fingerprints is kind of crossing the line.”

Christopoulos and his 70-year-old father, Paul, operate two ice cream trucks in Lowell and Dracut. The senior Christopoulos is in his final year of a three-decade journey putting smiles on children’s faces.

In 2005, New York became the first state to ban sex offenders from ice cream trucks after a middle-aged driver for the Mr. Ding-A-Ling fleet was arrested for molesting a 9-year-old. Eduardo Grau was sentenced to two years in prison.

Last month, the Oklahoma Legislature gave popsicle predators the cold shoulder, too. ..Source.. by Laurel J. Sweet