A man who faced almost 100 years in jail after an ex-girlfriend claimed he cut an “X” shape into her chest has been cleared by a selfie.
Christopher Precopia was shocked when police arrested him while he was at work last September at a lumberyard in Williamson County in Texas, USA.
The New York Post reports that the 22-year-old was accused of burglary with intent to commit other crimes.
At the time Precopia had no clue why he was being arrested, until he later discovered that his ex-girlfriend from high school reported him to the police with a made up story.
He said: “I had no idea why everything was happening, and I was lost.”
Precopia’s ex claimed that he broke into her home in Temple before cutting an X into her chest with a box cutter.
Police took him to Williamstown County Jail and released him only after his family posted a £117,000 ($150,000) bond.
But on the night of the alleged attack, the lumberjack worker was actually 65 miles away at a hotel in Austin with his mum, Erin Precopia.
And to prove this, he had taken a selfie of himself with his family on that night, which he shared on social media.
Mrs Precopia said: “By the grace of God, [the accuser] said it happened on the day when I can say totally, 100 per cent, where he was at.”
Although he had a solid alibi, authorities charged him anyway, which police experts told broadcaster KVUE might have been presumptuous.
The station explained that usually police interview suspects before charging them with a crime.
Precopia’s lawyer, Rick Flores, told ABC News in America that at the time of the arrest Precopia asked what the reason was.
He claimed that their response was: “Something along the lines of, ‘don’t act like you don’t know what we’re talking about’.”
The police affidavit confirmed that Christopher was charged with first-degree felony burglary of a habitation, with intent to commit additional felonies.
Flores added that offence was punishable by up to 99 years if convicted.
Police finally dropped the charges nine months after his arrest when his lawyer brought the alibi evidence – the selfie – to Bell County prosecutors.
As she is not being charged with a crime, his accuser’s identity is not being made public.
She later admitted to Temple police that she reported Precopia because of a difficult relationship with him several years earlier.
