Man pleads not guilty after safe found in car

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

A South Boston man was arraigned today on a charge of receiving stolen property, a day after Boston Police were alerted to a car that had a large metal safe sticking out of its trunk.

James Cotter, Jr., 24, was ordered held on $2,500 cash bail after pleading not guilty in South Boston Municipal Court to one count of receiving stolen property, said Jake Wark, spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

Wark said Boston Police were still trying to determine the legal owner of the safe and were looking to get a search warrant so they could open and determine what was inside the heavy metal object.

Wark said the charge against Cotter was based largely on the condition of the safe police found stuffed into the back of the 1995 Ford Taurus at around 10 a.m. Tuesday on Dorchester Avenue.

"There is probable cause to believe a crime has occurred, based on the appearance of the safe which had apparent burn marks on its outer and middle layers of steel as if someone had used an acetylene torch to try to gain access,'' said Wark. "The face (of the safe) was not breached. Its contents remain unknown.''

After the discovery of the safe, an investigation led to Cotter, who told police that he had found it at a Dorchester Avenue address, tried to open it, then decided to return it, according to police reports. One of Cotter's friends was using his mother's car to help him return the safe when someone called police.

Cotter's attorney, Helene Tomlinson of Boston, did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

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