Middleton Man Charged in Vandalism of DCR Sign

By Adam Swift

A Middleton man is facing charges for vandalizing a DCR Winthrop Beach sign at least three times over the past several months.

The vandalization included vulgarities aimed at President Joe Biden written in black marker.

An investigation by local and State Police led to charges of tagging property and malicious destruction of property under $1,200 against Mark Evans, 61, of Middleton being filed last week.

At last week’s Town Council meeting, State Police Lt. Donald Bossi, commander of the Revere barracks, addressed the vandalism and the investigation.

“We’ve had a lot of emails and complaints about the defamation of the DCR sign at the beginning of the beach, and we are lucky enough here tonight to have … State Trooper Lt. Bossi give an update on that situation,” said Council President James Letterie.

Bossi said he wanted to update the town and the council on the investigation, as well as address some emails he said questioned the investigation and the incidents of vandalism.

Bossi said he and Winthrop Police Chief Terence Delehanty were first made aware of the vandalism after the second or third instance.

“The first two times, DCR addressed it and fixed the vandalism, it was the third time that it happened following that they let us know that it happened,” said Bossi. “Following that, we began an investigation. Without getting into the specifics of the investigation we identified a person by sight, and ultimately, it took us a little while longer to get a positive identification on him.”

The man, later identified as Evans, was taken to the Revere barracks where he was interviewed and later admitted to all the acts of vandalism, according to Bossi.

“I don’t have an explanation for why he did it, he did not expand on why he did it, but he did take full responsibility for each and every occasion,” said Bossi.

Bossi went on to address several emails about what the police were doing to address the issue beforehand.

“I’m sure that Chief Delehanty would agree with me that as part of a criminal investigation, we tend to keep things close to the vest,” said Bossi. “I’ve been on the State Police for 30 years, and I spent 20 years of that as a fire and explosions investigator, and generally, the only people I brief when an investigation is going on are my superiors. Even in incidents of local things, I’ll talk to the local police chief or local detective, but ask that it doesn’t go any further than that.”

He stressed that there was an active investigation underway, and also praised the relationship between his barracks and the Winthrop police.

“If there are any issues with the DCR state properties, or even within the town itself, I am always available,” said Bossi.

Letterie thanked Bossi for the update, and said he would also like to see a DCR representative appear before the council at a future meeting to address issues regarding beach accessibility.