HOLLIDAYSBURG - A Blair County jury was not able to decide Thursday evening if Herman "Bo" Lardieri III improperly touched a former police officer's wife more than two years ago while partying at Pellegrine's Lounge on Pleasant Valley Boulevard.
The jury, however, did find Lardieri, 40, guilty of lying about the incident when he appeared before a statewide grand jury seven months later.
Lardieri told the grand jury he did not have a "confrontation" with Adrienne Eichenlaub, the wife of former officer Duane "D.J." Eichenlaub, while the two were in Pellegrine's main bar area about 1:30 a.m. May 31, 2010.
The Eichenlaubs were there after attending a wedding and reception for one of Duane Eichenlaub's colleagues on the Altoona police force.
Adrienne Eichenlaub accused Lardieri of touching her leg and buttocks as he went toward the bar's restroom.
She said she screamed at Lardieri after the touching incident and even struck him several times.
Several other witnesses testified that Adrienne Eichenlaub was "flailing" her arms and yelling at Lardieri.
A statewide grand jury became involved in the incident because Duane Eichenlaub and a fellow officer, Eric R. Kriner, upon hearing what had happened, allegedly entered the restroom and began beating Lardieri, and, in the process, seriously injured Earl Eshelman, 60, a bar patron who tried to intervene.
The statewide grand jury recommended charges of perjury, false swearing and indecent assault against Lardieri. It also recommended that Duane Eichenlaub and Kriner be charged with aggravated assault and for orchestrating a cover-up of their involvement in the restroom beatings with other city police officers who arrived to investigate the fight.
State police Cpl. Joseph Cigich of the Rockview barracks, who was asked by Altoona police to investigate what occurred that night, testified this week it was determined people were not telling the truth during initial interviews and the matter was referred to the grand jury.
It took about five hours for the jury to reach its verdicts.
Judge Hiram A. Carpenter accepted guilty verdicts on the perjury and false swearing charges and declared the jury "hung" on the indecent assault charge.
Adrienne Eichenlaub shed tears at the jury's findings.
Senior Deputy Attorney General Jonelle H. Eshbach said she would have to discuss the situation with her bosses in Harrisburg before deciding if there would be a retrial on the indecent assault charge.
Eshbach said she didn't know if Adrienne Eichenlaub would want to go through another trial.
Mark Zearfaus, Lardieri's attorney, said he never had a hung jury before. He said the jury's findings indicated it felt his client was lying when he told the grand jury he had no confrontation with Adrienne Eichenlaub.
Carpenter said he will sentence Lardieri, who presently is being housed in state prison on bad check charges, on Sept. 25. Duane Eichenlaub and Kriner are to be tried this fall, Eshbach said.
Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.
