A Philadelphia man has been charged with assaulting a WTXF crew.
Philly.com reports photographer Dave Eizen and reporter Chris O’Connell were at a local garage doing a story about cars damaged by potholes when the owner Peter Kathapoulis allegedly “tried to rip the camera from Eizen’s hands.”
“A business owner didn’t want us shooting a story that had NOTHING to do with him,” O’Connell posted to Facebook. “But decided to get physical anyway.
He tried ripping the camera out of Dave’s hand, threatening us, throwing slurs and then as I was on the phone to 911 he walks over and spits in my face.”
Kathapoulis says Eizen was taking shots of cars in the garage without the owner’s permission and both the photographer and reporter for the Fox-owned station said “racial remarks” when they were asked to leave, which a WTXF spokesperson said was “absolutely untrue.”
“We are pressing charges to send a message,” said O’Connell. “I hope he gets it.”