Charges facing two

students accused of breaking into a building on campus and stealing equipment have been withdrawn after it was determined that the building was abandoned and the stolen property was of no worth, according to the attorney for the pair.

David A. Colaneglo

, 21, of Harrison, N.Y., and

Peter Hicks

, 22, of the 600 block of Montclair Avenue, had been charged with felony trespassing, theft and receiving stolen property after allegedly entering Building B, 112 Research Drive near Iacocca Hall on Lehigh's Mountaintop Campus on the night of Aug. 7.

But Stephen L. Shields, attorney for both Colaneglo and Hicks, said the police account was misleading. The building in question is owned by Mittal Steel Company and has been vacant for several years, Shields said. The items the students took from inside were of no value to the company, according to Shields.

"There's nothing of value in there. No human being has been in there for the past seven years," Shields said of the building. "This really ended up being a big to-do about nothing."

Shields said the fact that the building was abandoned would have provided an absolute defense for the most serious charges facing his clients.

Colaneglo and Hicks appeared before

this morning for a preliminary hearing on the charges.

Court records indicate the original charges were withdrawn, but showed that Hicks pleaded guilty to a summary offense for trespassing a fenced or enclosed property. Shields said both of his clients pleaded guilty to the summary offense, but court records did not yet reflect any guilty plea for Colaneglo.