UPDATED: Ice cream truck driver suing Gloversville over permit

PHOTOGRAPHER: Edward Munger Jr.

Officials in Gloversville are facing legal action from one of the Sno Kone Joe ice cream truck operators charged with stalking and harassment.

Amanda C. Scott, through attorney William Lorman of Amsterdam, filed a request for judicial intervention in state Supreme Court, Fulton County, on Friday.

The lawsuit targets the city of Gloversville, the city clerk, Police Chief Donald Vandeusen and Mayor Dayton King.

A hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday in Supreme Court in Johnstown, at which point King said he expects both sides will argue over the vending permit the city is refusing the Sno Kone Joe franchise.

Both Scott, 21, and Joshua V. Malatino, 34, are facing charges of fourth-degree stalking and second-degree harassment for allegedly giving the driver of a rival Mr. Ding-A-Ling ice cream truck a hard time.

Police and a witness allege both Malatino and Scott were following the Mr. Ding-A-Ling ice cream truck, blaring their music and calling out they had free ice cream in an apparent attempt to corner the local ice cream market.

The pair, arrested last Tuesday, were operating under a permit that expired Saturday and was not renewed by city officials.

King said it’s his understanding the ice cream vendors plan to fight for another license.

He said that in the past, Malatino would get a one-month license with plans to earn money then purchase a license for another month.

City peddling and soliciting licenses run anywhere from $25 for one week up to $650 for an entire year, according to the city’s code.

King said he’s confident in the city’s stance and said he’s willing to see the license issue be dealt with by a judge.

“I’m good with that. I say let the courts decide,” he said. “If the public had all the information that we had, I think 95 percent of them would make the same decision that we would make.”

King said the city is being represented by attorney Michael Albanese because City Attorney Anthony Casale has represented Malatino in another case before he became city attorney.

The case drew national attention after another ice cream driver, Philip Hollister, told police he’d been harassed by either Malatino or Scott on three occasions, April 16, 19 and 28.

Hollister told police that on April 16 — his first day on the job driving the Mr. Ding-A-Ling truck — Malatino drove by him on Eighth Avenue and yelled, “You don’t have a chance, this is my town.”

King said he is confident the city maintains the authority to provide or deny a license.

“It’s a privilege, not a right,” he said.

Calls to a phone number listing for Scott and Malatino went unanswered Monday.

The matter will be heard by State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Sise at 10 a.m. Tuesday in state Supreme Court in Johnstown.