SouthCoast Spider-Man Spotted in Acushnet and New Bedford

The SouthCoast may have its very own superhero roaming around, as Spider-Man was spotted today in Acushnet and New Bedford.

At about 2:48 p.m., I received a message from my friend Stephanie Burke with a photo she had received of someone dressed as Spider-Man sitting atop the gates that serve as the entrance to Acushnet Cemetery.

I jumped in the car and headed from the radio station down to the cemetery, about a 10-minute drive. By the time I arrived at the Acushnet Cemetery, though, the wall-crawler had already crawled away.

However, Cemetery Superintendent Bob Rodrigues shared his experience with Spidey.

“I’m over here mowing the lawn, and all of a sudden I looked and saw him on the ledge over there,” Rodrigues said, pointing toward the gates of the cemetery. “So I walked over and started taking pictures and video, and he was just waving at everyone driving by, and then he walked down the street.”

Rodrigues said Spider-Man “didn’t say a word” the entire time.

“He climbed up buildings and scaffolding, all kinds of things he could climb on,” he said. “On the way out, he was walking on the railing over there, all the way down the street.”

Rodrigues said he had no idea who could be behind the mask.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this,” he said.

I reached out to Acushnet Police Chief Chris Richmond to find out if anyone had reported seeing the webslinger walking down the streets of the town and if he knew anything about it.

“No, I can’t say that I do,” Richmond said in an email. “We had nothing reported to us.”

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Not long after I parted ways with Rodrigues at the cemetery, he called and left a voicemail on his way home from work.

“I found Spider-Man, he’s walking down Ashley Boulevard toward Gary’s Best. I just saw him,” he said.

I quickly turned around and headed in that direction, driving down Ashley but not seeing Spider-Man anywhere. Considering he’d just been at Acushnet Cemetery, I thought maybe he was making his way to Pine Grove Cemetery.

I pulled into Pine Grove but didn’t see Spidey anywhere. I went to the back of the cemetery and spoke with the staff, and none of the three people working had seen him, either.

I took a few passes around the North End to see if I spotted Spider-Man, but alas, no sign of him anywhere. He probably had reverted back to his secret identity.

If anyone spots Spider-Man around the SouthCoast, please let me know at tim@wbsm.com. I don’t want to say I’m going full J. Jonah Jameson here, but I definitely want to know who he is.