STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) -When city employees refused to haul away his raked leaves, Michael Peters blew up. And his meltdown got him arrested for what police describe as “leaf rage.”

Peters, 67, of North Stamford, was charged Monday with breach of peace, a misdemeanor, after accosting municipal workers who told him they collected leaves only on the street and not those on a right of way, where his were stacked.

“He grabbed my jacket and said, ‘You’re not going anywhere,”‘ operations Supervisor Robert Gerbert said of Peters. “The guy was spitting and swearing – it was the most disgusting scene I’ve ever seen.”

Peters admitted he lost his cool, frustrated by more than three decades of being ignored by the town at leaf time.

“I went berserk. I got very angry,” Peters said. “After 34 years, things build up. I am a taxpayer… All I am trying to do is get a service that’s being offered to all of my neighbors.”

Crews probably would have come back to Peters’ home – maybe even later that day – had he asked politely, said worker Jim Crabb: “We’re not big, mean ogres.”