Turnpike toll takers’ guns collected

By Casey Ross

Gun-toting toll collectors have been stripped of their sidearms by Mass Pike brass after secretly carrying them for decades without formal training, the Herald has learned.

“I didn’t want to have a wild west show out there,” said Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Executive Director Alan LeBovidge, who ordered the practice stopped. “I could find nothing to show that the employees had state police training that would make them qualified to carry guns.”

Boston Herald 2/28/08

Pike union takes aim at LeBovidge

By Casey Ross

A Mass Pike labor leader is calling for the firing of Turnpike boss Alan LeBovidge after he stripped pistol-packing toll takers and couriers of their guns, the latest dispute in an escalating war of words between LeBovidge and the Pike’s union employees.

Union chief Robert Cullinane accused LeBovidge of spreading “lies” about toll takers by telling the Herald he confiscated their guns to prevent a “wild west show” on the Pike. Cullinane said toll takers do not carry guns while collecting cash and would only do so if performing separate duties as a courier.