"Bad boy" TV newsreporter Vince DeMentri, who had a slappy altercation with a chauffeur over a parking space earlier this week, was fired from WPIX/Channel 11. DeMentri wasn't on air last night, and a station spokesman acknowledged DeMentri had been disowned: "Vince DeMentri is no longer with the company." You broke my heart, Fredo.
On Wednesday, DeMentri battled for the space near the WPIX offices in midtown with Hurley Senanayake, the Bahamian UN ambassador’s chauffeur; when Senanayake refused to move out of the New York Press parking zone, DeMentri allegedly slapped him and drove off. DeMentri's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, who is planning to sue the station for wrongful termination, says it's a conspiracy: "This guy is someone who was clearly trying to set [DeMentri] up for a civil case."
Why does Tacopina think that? He told the Philadelphia Inquirer, "This is a money play as evidenced by the fact that the complainant is claiming his arm is numb based on a claim that Vince 'slapped' him in the face! I hope the complainant has been informed of the laws of perjury."
