LEWISTON, Maine (AP) -- A father and son have pleaded guilty to taking a firefighter's jacket and a police officer's hat as souvenirs from the World Trade Center.
The suspects said they traveled from their home in Maine to New York on the night of Sept. 11 to help search for survivors, and they accidentally came home with the jacket and hat.
Police say they took the items as souvenirs and had bragged that they were heroes for assisting rescuers. But their community reacted with outrage after learning that they allegedly stole the gear.
The son, Louie Senecal III, 19, was given a suspended 30-day jail term, placed on probation for one year and ordered to complete 40 hours of community service.
His father, Louis Senecal Jr., 49, will remain in Cumberland County Jail until Nov. 12, but not as a direct result of his guilty plea. He has been locked up since Sept. 23 for violating probation from an assault conviction.
One of the violations was committed when he went to New York on Sept. 11 without telling his probation officer.
