Man facing charge for 'Jaws' sighting

Boston -- A 60-year-old man may be on the hook for allegedly lying about a shark sighting at the Massachusetts locale where the movie "Jaws" was filmed, police say.

Edgartown Police Chief Paul Condlin said Michael Lopenzo is accused of lying about seeing two large sharks this past week off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, The Boston Globe reported Saturday.

The island was the principal site for the filming of the popular 1975 thriller "Jaws," which was about a man-eating shark terrorizing a coastal community.

Condlin said Lopenzo's allegedly false reports Thursday came in the wake of South Beach's closure after a reported shark sighting. Lifeguards said they may have seen a great white shark in the water and a tour plane pilot also reported seeing a large shark near the beach.

Yet when police investigated Lopenzo's sightings, they allegedly found certain details of his story were incorrect and began to doubt the authenticity of his claims.

"It was building to a lack of credibility concerning his statement regarding the sharks," Condlin said.

The Globe said that suspicion lead to a charge of disturbing the peace being laid against Lopenzo.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.