It was not immediately clear whether Cannella entered a plea, but his bail was set bail at $500,000 and he was given an October 13 court date. He was allegedly pretending to be part of a VIP motorcade when he made it onto the tarmac.
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A North Babylon man is accused of trying to meet the pope at JFK by sneaking on to his motorcade.
A guard said Cannella drove up directly behind one motorcade around 6 p.m. ET and “flashed something silver that looked like a police badge”, then drove past the guard post, according to court records.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow were in the two motorcades, CBS2’s Tony Aiello reported.
He was apprehended after he was asked for the name of a Secret Service agent and couldn’t produce one, the papers state.
It was when the twice-mistaken Cannella tried to drive onto the tarmac yet again that he was stopped by Port Authority Police and arrested, the News reported. But this time he couldn’t get past the guard post and a Port Authority police officer activated a barrier to prevent him from getting back out of the tarmac.
Cannella somehow missed the news that Pope Francis was in Philadelphia attending the World Meeting of Families Festival on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Authorities said surveillance video captured both incidents, CBS News reported.
Police said in addition to the knife, they also found a magazine from a 9-mm pistol with five hollow-point rounds inside, a single rifle round, two walkie-talkies, several ear-pieces, a laptop, a cell phone, a suit, a small amount of marijuana and a pen shaft that had been cut in half. A senior New York City law enforcement official who has been briefed on the investigation said the man told investigators he used his retired New York firefighter badge and ID to get into Washington’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Wednesday.
Scott Bookstein, of Kew Gardens, Queens, Cannella’s attorney, said his client, who has never been arrested before, is not charged with injuring or threatening anyone.
He’s pleaded not guilty to charges including criminal impersonation, unauthorized possession of ammunition and criminal trespass.
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“This is completely blown out of proportion”, he said. Cannella’s niece died of cancer recently, Bookstein said, and the loss has impacted his judgment. Cannella was hoping to get a message to the pope, he said.
