MEDIA: Feds Arrest CBS Staffers For Filming Conditions At War Veteran’s Hospital

PHILADELPHIA — TWO CBS 3 staffers were detained Thursday by officers assigned to the Veterans Administration Hospital (39th & Woodland) for videotaping without permission.The pair were caught “in an area of the nursing facility where they were not allowed to be,” Rich Manieri, U.S. Attorney’s office spokesman, told us Friday.

A female photographer was fined $150 for disorderly conduct after putting up some sort of struggle when confronted, and was also fined $50 for trespassing and $50 for unauthorized photography. A male producer also received the lesser two fines.

VA officers confiscated a videotape from the CBS 3 crew and a copy of the tape was returned to the station, Manieri said.

The unknown undercover investigation by CBS 3 at the local VA Hospital comes on the tails of recent Washington Post reports alleging mistreatment of wounded vets at Washington’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

“We won’t comment about the nature of our story except to say that this incident won’t deter us in any way from covering it,” said CBS 3 spokeswoman Joanne Calabria. “We don’t believe our people did anything wrong and we stand by them.”

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