Prosecutors have dropped charges against a Pennsylvania security guard who spent a month behind bars for robbing a Pittsburgh bakery even though there was video evidence putting him somewhere else at the time of the crime.
DeAndre Brown, 26, was arrested Sept. 17 and charged with robbing Dana’s Bakery and possessing a firearm, based on eyewitness testimony. He was jailed for a month because his family was unable to afford bail. But as the video obtained by Brown’s lawyer proved, the eyewitness who identified Brown as the robber was mistaken; he was walking into a job seminar at the time of the robbery, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Brown said the police refused to review the surveillance tape when he was arrested. Police dispute his account and say Brown did not speak to them after his arrest. Prosecutors dropped the charges on Friday. Brown had been free but under electronic monitoring since bail was reduced in mid-October.