A resident of Florida, identified as Joseph Salvatore Schifano, was apprehended by authorities for breaching police crime scene tape at the site of a fatal plane crash in Clearwater.
The incident occurred at approximately 9:30 pm on Thursday when Schifano, aged 66, asserted his affiliation with the medical staff in an attempt to cross the designated police tape.
Confirmation from authorities reveals that Schifano failed to provide any substantiating evidence of his employment or official duty when confronted for unlawfully accessing the crash site by ducking under the crime scene tape.
Schifano Warned: Stay Away from Crime Scene, Affidavit
Law enforcement officials issued a cautionary directive to Mr. Joseph Salvatore Schifano, urging him to abstain from entering the designated crime scene, subsequent to his open expression of curiosity.
This advisory was articulated in an official affidavit, outlining that Schifano was explicitly instructed to “move along.”
Subsequent accounts detail that Schifano, seemingly attempting to elude detection by another law enforcement officer, expeditiously traversed beneath the crime scene tape, distinctly marked with “police line do not cross,” thereby breaching the perimeter and gaining access to the specified crime scene.
According to the details within the affidavit, Schifano traversed an entire house length into the crime scene while actively recording a video of the plane crash on his cellular device when confronted by law enforcement officials.
Upon the formal reading of his rights, Mr. Schifano acknowledged his transgressions, expressing remorse and extending apologies to the law enforcement personnel present. He openly admitted to being cognizant of the impropriety of his actions.
In the course of their interaction, Schifano disclosed his intention to capture a video for a media company, indicating a financial motive as the driving force behind his actions.
Presently, Mr. Schifano is facing charges of resisting an officer without violence, a legal repercussion for his actions within the aforementioned incident.