A scientist from the federal Environmental Protection Agency working here for the Super Bowl was arrested this morning, accused of stealing a taxicab, police said.
Louis Andrew Mattioli, 30, of Sayreville, N.J., is charged with felony grand theft auto and misdemeanor petit theft, jail records show. He was held on $2,500 bail at the Orient Road Jail today.
According to an affidavit, Mattioli was intoxicated when he took about $140 out of a cab driver's hands and stole the taxi about 3:20 a.m. in the 1900 block of North Dale Mabry Highway.
Police arrested Mattioli about 20 minutes later at Rent-A-Wheel, 2301 N. Dale Mabry Highway, the affidavit states.
In the affidavit, Mattioli told police he took the car "because he was scared."
Jail records say Mattioli is an EPA scientist at a facility in Edison, N.J.
Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said that Mattioli was working for the Super Bowl. She did not know what his duties were.
An EPA spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., referred questions to Mattioli's regional office. An official there could not be immediately reached.
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