It may have been freezing outside, but a New Hampshire state representative was furious after a snowplow driver blocked his driveway.
Jeffrey Greeson, 51, of Wentworth, was apoplexic and saw nothing but red on a day when the road beyond his driveway was covered in deep snow.
He got angry when Paul Manson drove by with his snowplow to clear the roads for drivers and make them safer. Manson’s plow blocked the end of Greeson’s driveway with snow, causing an unseemly blowout.
In video footage shot by the Wentworth Highway Department driver, Greeson can be seen waving his fists in a cartoonish manner as he fans out the subzero air.
Now get in your truck and do your job! And don’t put it in my driveway! Greeson yelled. Push it there, off the road, there! he said, referring to a pile of snow the driver had been dealing with.
Criminal charges have been filed against the New Hampshire state representative. Jeffrey Greeson, after he was caught on video verbally abusing a plow driver
The incident occurred last Saturday when Greeson could be seen angrily stomping his feet in a loud and aggressive tirade, and confronted snowplow driver Paul Manson who was clearing snow.
‘It’s unbelievable to me. It took me a few days to calm down and realize exactly what had happened,” Manson said Friday. ‘I was trying to do my job. It mortified me that someone would treat someone like that.
Greeson was arrested by state police Friday and charged with disorderly conduct, criminal threats and simple assault.
The tirade appeared to last several minutes as he appeared to follow the plow driver up his driveway, angrily stomping several feet of snow while barking instructions while yelling and cursing about where he should put the snow.
‘This is where my driveway ends, right here. Get it off the road! shouted Greeson, who also used rude hand gestures and expletives.
Your job is to clear the way. Clear the way! Now get in your truck and do your job!’
The storm dropped nearly a foot of snow before abating later that day.
At one point, Greeson appeared to lose his balance in the thick snow, making it difficult for him to chase Manson. He then seemed to lose all perspective and stood directly in front of the snowplow, refusing to move and trying to stop Manson from filming him.
Greeson, a retired Navy officer and pastor serving his second term in the House, was arrested by state police Friday and charged with disorderly conduct, criminal threats and simple assault.
It appeared that he was still seething with rage after reporters confronted him and asked for a comment on his rash actions.
On Thursday, Greeson, who wore a blue tie emblazoned with white doves, was still going strong, but perhaps uncharacteristically decided to freeze the press, refusing to comment on camera about his icy tirade.
Greeson approached the snowplow driver and began yelling at him to move the snow so it wouldn’t block the driveway.
Greeson, wearing a blue tie emblazoned with white doves, refused to comment on camera about his icy tirade.
Greeson was seen stomping on Thursday but did not comment on the incident.
Greeson issued a written statement acknowledging the incident, stating that he had apologized to Manson and that the two had stopped doing so.
‘I apologized to the man. He accepted my apology. That was several days ago and we are both moving on,” Greeson wrote.
Manson said he had already been plowing for about six hours Saturday when he came across Greeson standing in the middle of the road around 8 a.m.
“It started giving me hell and I didn’t know what was going on,” he said Thursday. “When I got out of the truck, she started yelling in my face. So I went back to the van and got my phone.
“He was upset that he wasn’t clearing the snow off the road enough, and he was putting it all in his driveway, and I’m going to be honest with you, that’s what I do,” Manson said.
‘My job is to remove snow from the road. And I feel bad most of the time because I put snow back on the driveways, and I really can’t help it.’
Manson said he realizes it’s no fun shoveling after a snowplow goes by, but he said public servants don’t deserve to be attacked.
“I go home when I finish my 15, 16, 18 hour shifts and do the same thing,” Manson said.
Manson first reported the incident to State Police the day it happened, expressed his relief and happiness to learn of Greeson’s arrest, and stated that the representative must be held accountable for his actions like any other citizen.
The driver, Manson, pictured here, who first reported the incident to State Police the day it happened, expressed relief and happiness upon learning of Greeson’s arrest, saying the representative must be held accountable for his actions like anyone else. another citizen.
‘It’s unbelievable to me. It took me a few days to calm down and realize exactly what had happened,” Manson said Friday. WMUR. ‘I was trying to do my job. It mortified me that someone would treat someone like that.
House Democratic Leader Matt Wilhelm issued a statement calling the charges against Greeson “serious and deeply concerning.”
‘The relationship between an elected official and his constituents is a sacred duty. I hope Rep. Greeson does some soul-searching over the weekend as he considers the next steps for himself and the community he serves,” Wilhelm wrote.
Greeson was released on probation and ordered back to Plymouth District Court in May to answer the charges against him, by which time the snow will have melted and hopefully cooler heads will prevail.
