By Dustin Brown
A Ridgewood man was arrested Friday after allegedly threatening to kill a television news reporter who sought to expose him in a suspected scam, police said.
Gary Janiak, 32, of 60-26 69th Ave., is accused of calling Fox 5 News and saying he would “send some guys to the station to kill” reporter Andrea Day if she aired a segment about him, according to the criminal complaint issued by the Manhattan district attorney.
Janiak has been charged with two counts of aggravated harassment, the DA said. He could not be reached for comment.
Day targeted Janiak in a “Problem Solvers” report that claimed he printed classified ads offering fees of $4,000 to drivers for the “dream job” of escorting topless dancers to gigs.
But after paying an $800 security deposit for the company’s luxury vehicles, applicants never saw the car, the topless dancers or the thousands of dollars that had been promised, she said in the broadcast.
Day approached Janiak with a camera crew at a Western Union branch in Brooklyn last week, where she believed he was trying to pick up money that had been wired by an apparent victim of the suspected scam.
In the report, which aired Sunday after the Super Bowl on “Fox 5 News at 10,” Janiak became violent and shouted obscenities before chasing Day to her vehicle while “barking like a junkyard dog,” as she puts it in her narration.
She said he then offered to give money to some nearby men if they would turn over her vehicle as she fled the parking lot.
Security guards called police after Janiak allegedly phoned threats into the station’s offices at East 67th Street in Manhattan, the DA said.
“At some time the threat became so concerning that the security guards at the station decided to go ahead and … let the police know,” Fox Television spokeswoman Ivey Van Allen said.
“In no way was this something that would make them reconsider airing it,” Van Allen said. “That’s the whole focus of ‘Problem Solvers,’ so we can protect the community and make sure the community’s informed when people are trying to pull a scam.”
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
