Breaking and Entering; Larceny from a Building: Dismissed.
A bar patron observed two men enter an unoccupied apartment building and emerge with several open bags full of copper piping and other scrap metal. The patron questioned the men about their actions due to his being acquainted with the property owner. The men provided a questionable explanation, which raised the patron’s suspicions. The patron then observed the men enter a pick-up truck and drive away. As they departed, the patron noted the license plate of their vehicle and notified police. Officers responded, interviewed the patron and asked him to participate in a photo lineup identifying the men. The patron participated in the lineup, but failed to identify the suspects. Police then traced the license plate to a man who was questioned and criminally charged in connection with this incident. The man informed police that he and his accomplice broke into an abandoned building to remove piping and other valuable scrap metal. The men placed the items in bags, loaded the bags onto a pick-up truck and transported them metal to a local scrap yard where they cashed in the metal in for money. Police followed up on this lead by interviewing the scrap yard employees and obtaining a videotape of the two men arriving and scrapping the metal unloaded from their pick-up truck. This information led police to Defendant who was arrested and charged with Breaking and Entering and Larceny from a Building. Attorney Calcagni represented the Defendant. On the morning of trial, Attorney Calcagni successfully moved to dismiss all charges on the bases of both lack of evidence and the defective eyewitness identification by the bar patron. Based on these collective factors, all charges were dismissed.