Police: Picketer threw soup on line crosser

Orange, Conn. (WTNH) - A picketer at Dichello Distributors in Orange has been charged after he allegedly threw soup on a woman applying for a job.

It happened Monday morning around 10:30. The woman was leaving the property and walking through the line of picketers with a police escort when Daniel Mezzanotte, 56, of New Haven, allegedly threw the soup on her.

Mezzanotte was charged with breach of peace and is due in court on April 25.

The woman was not injured.

The drivers at Dichello have been off the job for 30 days after contract negotiations broke down. Dichello placed an ad Sunday's New Haven Register looking for full time drivers to replace the almost 100-Teamsters workers.

The Teamsters say the ad is a violation of their current union contract and another tactic to avoid giving them the health care and retirement benefits they've earned.

The company says the expectation of a full pension and free health care is no longer an option in this economy.