July 6, 2009
TERRORIST ATTACKS
WCBS Reporter Arrested
WCBS newscaster Vince DeMentri was arrested last night for impersonating a federal agent while covering the World Trade Center disaster, police said.
But DeMentri's attorney, Joseph Tacopina, later said he had convinced police to reduce the charge to trespassing, a misdemeanor.
"It was a big misunderstanding and nothing more," Tacopina said of the arrest. "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time during all this bedlam."
According to police sources, DeMentri was stopped by a National Guardsman as he was trying to enter the sealed-off frozen zone with a camera operator. When the guardsman asked him for identification, police said, DeMentri said that he was an agent for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms.
When questioned further, DeMentri allegedly said that he had lost his identification card in the explosion. Police sources said that a police sergeant overheard the conversation and arrested DeMentri, giving him a desk appearance ticket on charges of impersonating a federal officer.
DeMentri could not be reached for comment last night.
"He is a well-known news reporter trying his best to cover a news story," Tacopina said. "He was not pretending to be a federal officer."
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