Middletown Officials Suspect “The Situation” Staging Publicity Stunts
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino was in custody for over 2 hours on simple assault charges
Fiore wants the Monmouth County Prosecutor to investigate
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino was arrested in Middletown this afternoon after Township Police broke up a fight between the reality TV star schmuck and his brother Frank.
Detective Lt. Steve Dollinger told MMM that a call came into to the Middletown PD shortly after 2PM reporting a fight at the tanning salon owned by Sorrentino. The actor was arrested, charged with simple assault and released on $500 bail at around 5:15. Dollinger declined to comment further, but other sources told MMM that Frank Sorrentino had a black eye and that Mike’s hand was bandaged as a result of the fisticuffs.
The story of Sorrentino’s arrest was first reported by TMZ, the entertainment gossip website. Last week TMZ, which is located in Marina del Rey, California, broke the story that employees of the tanning salon filed complaints with the Middletown Police that their $100-$200 paychecks had bounced.
Mayor Stephanie Murray thinks the situation stinks.
“They are putting our residents safety at risk,” Murray said. “Middletown does not need this kind of publicity. This is an embarrasment to Middletown, the Jersey Shore and to Italian Americans,” said the Mayor who is of Italian descent.
Committeeman Tony Fiore said he and others suspect that the incidents were staged. “It looks to me like the Sorrentino family is using our police department to generate publicity for their new television show,” Fiore said, “Two stories in two weeks broken by TMZ? It is starting to look like a poor attempt to gain publicity at the expense of public safety. If these are not stunts, they are yet other examples of Mike Sorrentino giving a bad name to the Jersey Shore and to Italian Americans.”
Fiore said he would ask the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office if such a publicity stunt is a crime, and if so that they initiate an investigation into the two incidents.
Charles Webster, spokesman for the Prosecutor’s Office was not available for comment.
Well, let the judge in Middletown throw the book at this “gentleman”; a few days in jail and the ability to refer to this “gentleman” as a “jailbird” would also be good publicity.
Perhaps in addition, a $25,000 fine might be warranted.
I wonder if there is anything in their lease that the owners of the shopping center could use to kick them out. I was in the parking lot for a few minutes while the PD was onsite and it occurred to me that if I owned one of the surrounding businesses I would not be a happy camper.
I hope the judge in Middletown can do SOMETHING to them.. as stated above..a day or two in lock up might be just what these worthless punks need. The shop is usually empty.. they are trolling for customers… and publicity… the people of Middletown should give them neither… why they were issued a permit to film is beyond me