Man Arrested for Attack with Meat Cleaver

A former Harvard maintenance worker was arrested yesterday morning after he allegedly beat a homeless man with a meat cleaver and a club on the corner of Linden Street and Mass. Ave.

Cambridge and Harvard police officers struck the suspect, William Cicero, with a baton and doused him with pepper spray after he refused to drop his weapons, said Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) spokesperson Steven G. Catalano.

Police cruisers blocked Linden Street and part of Mass. Ave for almost an hour as passersby gathered near Citizens Bank to watch.

Cicero, 62, suffered injuries to the head and was carried from the scene on a stretcher. The homeless man, Michael Parillo, was not injured.

Cicero, who worked for Harvard landscape and maintenance services for 26 years before retiring in 1999, will be arraigned this morning in Cambridge District Court for assault with a deadly weapon.

Cambridge and Harvard police responding to emergency calls from witnesses arrived on the scene at 10:55 a.m. and surrounded Cicero, Catalano said.

When Cicero refused to drop the club and the meat cleaver, an officer showered him twice with pepper spray, police said.

After Cicero then threw the meat cleaver at police, an officer struck him twice with a baton, Catalano said.

Cicero then threw his club at another officer and was finally subdued and arrested after an officer struck him again with a baton.

“This incident could have had a tragic ending,” said Catalano. “An officer was put in the position to use lethal force, but because of their training, they had other options available to them besides their firearms.”

Parillo, who said he has known Cicero for sixth months, said he was asking for change at his usual spot on Mass. Ave. when Cicero approached him shouting, “Run, sucker” and “I’ll clean the streets. I’m starting with you.”

Cicero, who used to give Parillo change and was “always smiling,” then struck Parillo on the back and arms with a wooden club, Parillo said.

Before police arrived, bystander Kelley E. Veazie, who had been chatting with Parillo before the incident, said she yelled at Cicero to stop.

She described Parillo as “smiling, polite, and relatively articulate.”

When she encouraged Parillo to run away, Cicero began attacking her instead, she said. He hit Veazie and threw her to the ground, leaving her with a bruised arm and a cut knuckle, she said.

“I’d rather he hit me than some homeless guy. His life already stinks,” she said. “I can go home, shower, and I will wake up fine tomorrow.”

Parillo returned to panhandling shortly after the incident.

“I’m here every day. I’m scared but I’m not leaving because of him,” Parillo said.

Many people in Harvard Square said they were shocked that such an incident could occur on a normally quiet side street.

“It was ultra fast-paced. I was thinking ‘What’s going on? Has anyone been hurt?” said Alan D. Yarbrough, who works at Ferranti-Dege photo store on Mass. Ave. and Linden Street.

Veazie said she left the scene shaken and teary-eyed.

“I’ll be all right,” Veazie said. “I’m shocked, a little less disillusioned.”

Yarbrough said he doesn’t think the Square is any less safe after the incident.

“It shows these things can happen anywhere,” he said. “I hope this is only a once in a lifetime experience.”

—Staff writer Hana R. Alberts can be reached at alberts@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Faryl W. Ury can be reached at ury@fas.harvard.edu.