A homeless Ocala man known for smiling in his jail mugshots and once wearing a pink bra while panhandling is beaming in his latest photo, taken after he was arrested for allegedly causing multiple disturbances over several days while begging at the intersection of SW Highway 200 and SW 103rd Street Road.
Christopher Todd Piscitelli, 41, was charged Jan. 31 with disorderly conduct. He had been released just four days earlier from the Marion County Jail, where he spent more than a month on a December battery charge. Piscitelli has been arrested in the county 25 other times since 2008 on charges including panhandling and trespassing. He was arrested in October 2018 after being caught panhandling shirtless while wearing a pink bra.
On Jan. 28, a passerby called in to report that Piscitelli had taken a handful of something to eat and threw the rest in the street. He said Piscitelli eats and drinks alcoholic beverages in the median at the intersection, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office report.
The next day, another passerby reported that Piscitelli and another man caused a disturbance in the middle of SW Highway 200 during heavy traffic. The witness said it appeared a physical altercation was imminent, but the other man walked away from Piscitelli. A sheriff’s deputy spoke with Piscitelli, who said the other man was upset because Piscitelli had posted his photo on Facebook, the report said.
On Jan. 30, yet another passerby called in to report that Piscitelli threw trash into the roadway, causing him to swerve to avoid it while traveling on SW Highway 400. A deputy responded and found Piscitelli in the median at the intersection, drinking an alcoholic beverage and sitting in a sleeping bag, according to the report.
Piscitelli had a cardboard sign that said, “I’m not going to lie. I like to drink beer and smoke weed that God supplied.” Piscitelli continuously drank an alcoholic beverage while talking to the deputy and had two cases of alcoholic beverages next to him. He threatened to purposely urinate on himself so that no one could claim he exposed himself, the report said.
A warrant for Piscitelli’s arrest was issued Jan. 31 and he was arrested that afternoon at the intersection. He’s being held on $1,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on Feb. 12 at 8:30 a.m.