The Associated Press

COLUMBUS - Prosecutors dropped a felony theft case against a man who was once charged in a house fire that killed five college students.

Municipal Judge H. William Pollitt Jr. dismissed the theft charge against Robert Lucky Patterson on Friday, saying police lacked enough evidence to file it.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien dropped aggravated murder and arson charges against Patterson for that same reason last year. At the time, O'Brien said investigators needed more time to pursue leads and build a stronger case in the April 13, 2003, fire near the Ohio State University campus.

Patterson, 21, had been held in the Franklin County jail since April 7 under an unusually high bond of $100,000.

Columbus police said under questioning in court Friday that theft investigators knew for months that a former roommate accused Patterson of stealing gold rings, but police didn't have enough evidence to pursue the case.

Homicide detectives got involved in the case and helped prepare the theft charge.

The theft charge came the same week billboards were unveiled noting the five unsolved arson deaths and a $35,000 reward.

There was a question about whether the alleged theft was even a felony, as charged. The owner of the rings paid less than $500 for them, the minimum value for a felony case, but estimated their value in the thousands of dollars.

During the preliminary hearing, Patterson's attorney said homicide detectives who had worked the arson case pushed for the theft charge to jail Patterson.

Authorities did show Patterson lived in the home last November when the rings were said to have been stolen. But others were there as well, and no one witnessed a theft.