DPW worker pleads not guilty in crash

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - The Providence Department of Public Works employee suspected of driving drunk, then hitting a moving car, has pleaded not guilty to charges of leaving the scene of an accident and driving with a suspended license.

Police say David Cepeda, 35, drove into another car Saturday night at Ernest St. and Allens Ave. in Providence, right outside the DPW building. When police tracked him down, they say Cepeda refused a chemical breath test.

A lawyer for Cepeda entered the pleas of not guilty Wednesday morning at Providence District Court. Cepeda was held on $2,000 personal recognizance. The matter will now go to Superior Court.

Cepeda is now suspended from his city job without pay, pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing.

Earlier in the week, a spokesman for Mayor Angel Taveras released a statement saying that "City employees should be held to a high standard of conduct, and [the mayor] will not tolerate behavior from any employee that falls short of those standards."

Eyewitness News also reached out to the director of the Providence Public Works Department, but he declined to comment on the case.