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Update: Man with hammer striking Philly Gayborhood rainbow crosswalk was city worker
NBC
Phildelphia police Tuesday say the man who took a sledgehammer to Philly’s Gayborhood rainbow crosswalk late Monday night, was a city worker looking for a water leak in the area.
According to witness testimony, and a video taken by a bystander, the man was hammering away at 13th and Locust streets around 10:30 p.m. Monday, prompting concerns that the man was vandalizing the gay neighborhood.
“There was a man in the middle of the road with a sledgehammer beating the rainbow sidewalks with it, and another man came up behind and began chiseling with him,” witness Michael Depian told NBC Philadelphia.
Turns out, the two were Philadelphia Water Department employees trying to get a manhole cover, sealed with asphalt, open to check on a possible water leak, police officials said. After failing to get the manhole open, the two left the scene, police said.
It’s not immediately known if the Water Department will return to try again.
