No arson charges in radio station stunt

[Russ_Byth]

MyFoxTampaBay.com staff report

TAMPA - The Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office has settled a long-running dispute with radio station WFLZ and three of its employees over an incident last December where the employees set a van on fire during a morning radio stunt.

The incident happened December 18, 2009. A van caught fire in the station's parking lot when one of the DJs was trying to fry a turkey inside it during a live broadcast.

The radio station did not have any permits or emergency crews standing by during the stunt, according to Tampa Fire Rescue officials.

Tampa Fire Rescue was called to scene to put the blaze out, and a firefighter ended up hospitalized with back injuries.

According to the agreement, three employees of WFLZ involved in the incident will not face criminal charges.

Instead, Todd Schnitt, also known as "MJ"; Dominick Siciliano, also known as "Fester"; and Thomas Charles Ray have a list of community service requirements to complete that include a public service campaign by WFLZ:

•10 hours of community service to support fire/burn victims
•A combined contribution of $15,000 to charities that help fire/burn victims
•A four-week public service campaign to raise awareness for charities that help fire/burn victims
The campaign has to include five recorded announcements per day by voices from the MJ Morning Show, a live broadcast from a location that supports fire/burn victims, and homepage placement of the public service campaign on the station's website.

The agreement was signed Thursday. If the three employees do not complete the requirements of the agreement, they could still face criminal charges.

State attorney Mark Ober railed against the stunt, saying it was "irresponsible and demonstrated a lack of good judgment and common sense."

But Ober could not prove a crime had been committed.

"Our goal in reaching this resolution is that the community will ultimately benefit from the undesirable events and irresponsible acts," Ober wrote.

Tampa Fire Rescue, which had previously sought felony arson charges, said it had no statement to make Friday afternoon.

[Howaboutthat]

I find it hard to believe that there's nobody on this board with some near-law experiences to pass along!