Police: Sanitation Worker Charged With Filing False Report After Claiming To Be Attacked On Job

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A New York City sanitation worker has been charged with filing a false police report, after police said he told them he was attacked and robbed on the job in Queens.

Sanitation worker Michael Morelli, 31, was charged with filing a false report Wednesday evening, according to the NYPD.

Initially, police sources said Morelli had claimed he was using a shovel to clear a fire hydrant at Liberty Avenue and Guy R. Brewer Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens when a suspect came up and put him in a bear hug around 4 a.m. Wednesday.

Morelli claimed a second man ran up, pistol-whipped him and took $25 and a radio worth $2,500, sources said.

But police checked video and could not find any footage to support his robbery claim, sources said.

Police also recovered his phone in the snow, sources said.

Speaking to CBS2 late Wednesday, Morelli denied that he had been arrested.