Municipal worker accused of assaulting former parish head at residents’ meeting

A worker for the municipal Public Utilities Administration allegedly assaulted the head of the Rucava and Dunika administration at a residents’ council meeting in Kalēti Parish, LSM reported. The official had previously headed the Bārta and Kalēti parish administration.

The injured man, Ģirts Laugalis, confirmed the incident to LETA. He said Public Utilities Administration worker Virginijs Karbauskis had publicly accused him of taking several tools and pieces of equipment belonging to the municipality when he moved to work in Rucava and Dunika.

A Kalēti residents’ council meeting was held on Wednesday, July 22. Laugalis said he explained that all the tools had been left in Kalēti and that he had neither taken them to his new workplace nor appropriated them.

“The atmosphere at the meeting was quite tense. After giving my explanation, I left, but Karbauskis met me in the hallway and behaved aggressively. I tried to calm him down, but at one point he hit me hard,” Laugalis said.

He felt pain after getting into his car, and it intensified. He went to an emergency department, where doctors diagnosed a broken rib. Laugalis filed a report with the State Police alleging bodily harm.

State Police representative Madara Šeršņova confirmed to LETA that police received information at around 9.40 p.m. on July 22 that a man had sustained injuries during a meeting on Liepu Alley in Kalēti, possibly a fractured rib.

Police have opened criminal proceedings and are investigating the precise circumstances of the incident.

LETA also contacted Daiga Egle, the acting head of the Bārta and Kalēti parish administration. She said a municipal commission had conducted an inventory during the week and found that all the tools and equipment were accounted for, except for two construction buckets.

Egle said the tools thought to be missing were with a finishing-work specialist who is currently working in another parish of South Kurzeme Municipality.

“We are not so wealthy that we can buy tools for everyone and put them on shelves to gather dust while waiting for them to be needed. Each parish administration has its own tools, and when necessary they are lent to other parishes,” Egle said.