SALEM - A City Council candidate faces assault charges after allegedly locking a man in a portable toilet, then knocking it over, in an effort to collect $28 he was owed, police said.

Ken Sawicki, 54, could have to vote for himself by absentee ballot, since a judge revoked his bail in an earlier case and sent him to Middleton Jail for 60 days as a result of yesterday morning's incident.

Salem police Lt. Conrad Prosniewski said two patrolmen in a cruiser came upon a large crowd near Riley Plaza, a parking lot near the post office downtown, where the city has set up portable toilets for Halloween visitors.

People were pointing to the toilet and Sawicki, who was rocking the stall. Then he knocked it over.

Inside was a man who told police he was walking in the area when Sawicki approached him about the money. The man told him he needed a moment to use the portable toilet, then ducked inside.

Sawicki attached a padlock, which he happened to be carrying, to the toilet door, locking the man inside, then tipped the unit over, police said.

The man was not injured, Prosniewski said, though he was covered with what the lieutenant politely described as "stuff."

Sawicki was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon - the Action King portable toilet - and with assault and battery to collect a loan, a felony that could land him in state prison if he is convicted.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges at his arraignment in Salem District Court, where Judge Robert Brennan did not set bail on the new charges but did revoke Sawicki's bail in a pending case of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Last January, he fought with police after they confronted him sleeping, in a sleeping bag, outside Salem Superior Court on a night when the temperature was around zero.

It's also not the first time Sawicki has been arrested in the middle of a campaign for City Council.

Four years ago to the day, Sawicki was arrested after police said he barricaded himself inside a car that was about to be towed and began hurling cardboard boxes at police officers. A patrolman suffered a cut to the forehead and had to be treated at Salem Hospital, according to police.

The 2003 incident began when police tried to tow Sawicki's 1973 Buick Century from in front of his Barr Street home. When the tow truck arrived, Sawicki came out of his house and told the driver not to take the vehicle, police said - and then locked himself inside the car and refused to get out.

Firefighters had to be called to help open the car door, after which Sawicki became "combative," police said.

Sawicki denied the incident and alleged that the arrest was an attempt to silence him just before he was scheduled to tape a political campaign spot at Salem Access Television.

He lost his bid for councilor-at-large that year.

In 2006, he submitted his name as a candidate for councilor-at-large to fill out the term vacated by Mike Bencal, but was passed over for Mark Blair.

Sawicki has been arrested numerous times since 1999 and charged with misdemeanor offenses.

He has also sued the city about a half-dozen times since 2002, including one suit where he alleged "reckless endangerment," "assault and battery" and "malicious mischief" by two members of the Salem Police Department.

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Staff writer Chris Cassidy can be reached at 978-338-2526 or by e-mail at ccassidy@ecnnews.com.