Robert Coppotelli allegedly wore a jacket with the text “Coppotelli,” “732-[redacted]-6050,” and his company logo on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol. (Photos from court documents)
A man who authorities said they identified through video because he wore a jacket with his last name and phone number during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol now faces felony charges in the insurrection.
Robert Coppotelli, 27, wore a jacket with the text “Coppotelli,” “732-[redacted]-6050,” and his company logo, “Coppotelli Heavy Equipment Sales & Services, Inc.,” registered with the U.S. Department of Transportation at an address in Toms River, New Jersey, where he lived, authorities said.
Authorities said he was there that day as thousands of Donald Trump supporters protested Congress certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral win.
He faces a handful of trespassing and disorderly conduct misdemeanors, according to a statement of facts in support of his arrest. The charges carry a combined potential sentence of three years behind bars.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reached him by phone but said he declined to comment. It was unclear from the docket Wednesday whether he had an attorney.
Coppotelli came onto the FBI’s radar from an anonymous tip on July 4, 2021, allegedly showing photos of Coppotelli inside the Capitol building. Someone who agents said knew Coppotelli and who had interacted with him regularly in the recent past helped identify him.
Agents also said they identified him through video footage showing him in and around the Capitol building. He wore a red hooded sweatshirt, a black hat under the red hood, a surgical-style blue face mask covering his mouth and nose, and a dark-colored jacket with a “Coppotelli” insignia.
Coppotelli allegedly approached the Capitol building from the west side of the Capitol grounds when the largely outnumbered police force fought to keep the growing crowd of hundreds from approaching the Capitol building.
At 2:19 p.m., security video captures Coppotelli scaling the northwest staircase, leading from the west plaza to the exterior of the first floor of the Capitol building, minutes after the Capitol had been breached for the first time that day, authorities said. At 2:24 p.m., Coppotelli entered the Capitol building through the Senate Wing Door — 11 minutes after the initial breach of the building at that entrance, authorities said. As Coppotelli walked through the doorway, an alarm sounded. Shattered glass was spread throughout the entryway, officials said.
Once inside, Coppotelli allegedly entered the Capitol Crypt, a large, circular room at the center of the Capitol’s first floor. He circled the crypt and then went to the memorial door staircase, authorities said video showed.
Coppotelli went back to the Crypt and north through the Capitol until he got to the Senate wing door that was now barricaded shut by police, authorities said. He got out of the Capitol by crawling through a broken window at 2:36 p.m., after spending 12 minutes inside, officials said.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
