And from that airy high court matter to an amusing lower court story....It’s bad enough being caught strutting down the street wearing a pair of women’s tennis shoes but when the tennis shoes are stolen – that’s just “wrong!” But that’s what police say happened to 26 year old Eugene Lanza who the police say they caught wearing a pair of female tennis shoes stolen during a burglary.
There’s no charge for footing it in stolen goods but he was charged for two counts of handling stolen goods and burglary when he appeared in court today. Lanza, who told the court he is a chef at a leading hotel in the city, pleaded not guilty. But a check on his records showed that he owed the court money. He objected, explaining that he had just finished serving a five year term three weeks ago for not paying those same fines. Magistrate Kathleen Lewis ordered that he be remanded until his claim is confirmed.
But back to the shoes, how did police know it was stolen? Footprints, maybe? Instead of fingerprints? Actually, nothing as high tech as that. What happened is that between March eighth and ninth Orlin Martin’s home on Santa Barbara Street was burglarized.
The items stolen were his wife’s pink and black Reebok tennis shoes and an amplifier. Shortly after Martin made the report he returned to the police station and told them that he just saw the burglar walking on Mahogany Street wearing his wife’s tennis. Police detained Lanza and retrieved the tennis shoes. They claimed that once he was shoeless – he told them that the amplifier was at a friend’s house and led police to it. Both items have been labeled as exhibits.
