Man arrested after impersonating a security guard to get into Taylor Swift concert, cops say
The Florida man has been charged with falsely impersonating an officer and interference with an entertainment event
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Your support makes all the difference.A Florida man has been arrested and accused of posing as a security guard in order to gain entrance to Taylor Swift’s recent Eras Tour concert held at Hard Rock Stadium.
The man, identified as 44-year-old Ivan Mariotti, has been charged with falsely impersonating an officer and interference with a sporting or entertainment event.
On Friday (October 18), Miami-Dade police were notified around 8:30pm by actual security that there was a man, later identified as Mariotti, “dressed in a suit wearing a badge over his neck, near the floor/field area of the venue,” according to news outlet WLPG Local 10.
Arrest records state that when authorities arrived on scene, they discovered Mariotti and escorted him to the stadium’s tunnel area for questioning.
Mariotti, who was identified as being an Uber driver by authorities, claimed “that he was hired by four women to work as a security guard and he escorted said women onto (the) property and to their respective seats.”
Mariotti told police he did not have a ticket to Swift’s Eras Tour concert and instead got into the venue because he was part of security.
He is said to have provided authorities with an ID badge and claimed to have worked for Saint Security.
After police asked him to name his clients, they spoke with two women who said their aunt had hired them a driver for the evening.
The report states that one of the women claimed she “did not know why her driver had a badge, as her aunt confirmed that she hired a driver and not a private security guard.”
Mariotti, an Italian national, was placed into custody at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where he remains as of Monday (October 21) afternoon. He was granted a $1,500 bond but is still on an immigration hold.
Swift, who kicked off the final leg of her record-breaking Eras Tour last week in Miami, recently announced that she will be releasing a book containing never-before-seen photos from her tour, along with rehearsal snapshots and reflections written by her.
“This tour has been the most wondrous experience and I knew I wanted to commemorate the memories we made together in a special way. Well, two ways actually,” she wrote on Instagram, adding that a new version of her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, will also be released on Vinyl and CD on November 29, exclusively at Target.
“Here is the official retrospective of the most wondrous tour of my life, my beloved Eras Tour,” Swift said in an additional statement. “Thank you to the fans who came to this show. You were what made The Eras Tour what it became.”
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