DeMentri Surfaces in Providence

Controversial veteran anchor Vince DeMentri is on the air at LIN’s Providence duopoly this morning. Last seen at WCAU Philadelphia, DeMentri has racked up a handful of odd behavioral matters; he was suspended after an altercation with WCAU weather guy Glenn Schwartz in 2006, and left WCAU in the summer after allegations that he stole the property of anchor Lori Delgado, and vandalized her car. (He and Delgado were romantically linked in the tabloids.)

DeMentri’s anchoring mornings, starting at 5. It’s a return to Providence for him; President/General Manager Jay Howell says DeMentri was at WPRI in the early ’90s, and current staffers who worked with him then vouched for his character.

“They said, ‘bring him back, he’s great,’” says Howell, who acknowledges that DeMentri’s baggage made it possibly to land a big-name anchor in the #52 DMA. “It’s exciting to have him with us.”  

Howell recently added a 7 a.m. news at the duopoly.