A New Jersey business owner wore a jacket bearing his name and phone number when he stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, federal prosecutors alleged.
Robert Coppotelli, 27, was arrested Wednesday and charged with four misdemeanor counts of unlawfully entering the Capitol with the goal of disrupting the session of Congress.
He had been on the FBI’s radar since July 2021, when an anonymous tipster identified Coppotelli thanks to his trademark jacket, which promoted his business “Coppotelli Heavy Equipment Sales & Services, Inc.,” according to a federal arrest warrant.
Although Coppotelli’s face was fairly disguised by a mask and hat, the business owner’s name was clearly visible on his left breast and plastered across his back.
While wearing the jacket, Coppotelli allegedly entered the US Capitol through a kicked-down door with a swarm of Donald Trump supporters after scaling the Northwest Staircase — which officials said was captured on security cameras.
“Rioters overran multiple police lines on the west front of Capitol grounds and scaled the Northwest Staircase to reach the exterior the Capitol building’s first floor at the Senate Wing Door entryway,” the warrant states.
“There, rioters used wooden planks, stolen police shields, and other blunt objects to smash the windows to the left and right of the Senate Wing Door.”
The business owner allegedly spent 12 minutes walking through the stormed building before crawling through a broken window and vanishing.
Investigators easily tracked down Coppotelli’s business, which is registered with the US Department of Transportation at the same Toms River address where Coppotelli lives.
Notably, the company’s logo matched the text and artwork — which contained a large American flag — shown on the suspect’s jacket.
Coppotelli could not be immediately reached for comment.
Coppotelli joins the more than 1,300 defendants who have been charged in connection to the Capitol riot.
Roughly 900 of those have now pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial.
