Watch CBS News

NRA Antler Theft Charges Dropped Against Md. Men

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pittsburgh police aren't commenting on a prosecutor's decision to drop charges against two workers charged with stealing two massive sets of elk antlers after the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Pittsburgh.

Allegheny County District Attorney's spokesman Mike Manko tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the charges were withdrawn at a scheduled preliminary hearing Tuesday after witnesses told police they thought the men who worked for a Maryland exposition company were returning the antlers, not walking away with them as a vendor told police.

Online court records don't list attorneys for Gary Felts, 46, of Joppa, Md., and Stephen Lee, 44, of Cumberland, Md. who were charged with theft May 1. The antlers worth more than $15,000 each were returned to Velvet Ranch, a Rexburg, Idaho hunting lodge that had a display at the NRA event.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.