I have recently been charged with theft under 5000, I was at a bar late one night after a long day of drinking and when I was leaving, someone mentioned taking a police officers coat, the police officer was not around and it was at a coat check ( leave at own risk) I have yet to go to court, and have gone back to my high school and recent employers to ask for letters stateing that this was out of character, I have never been charged with anytihng and have a completely clean record, I live in ontario and cross the boarder frequently for wqorking purposes, the officer that charged me miss-spelt the name of the bar, in wich this happened, would it be a better idea to fight this case or plead guilty to a lesser charge, I have also written a letter to the police officer apologyzing for my behavior that night, would the miss spelt location help me?

Did you return the coat or otherwise make restitution?

Police officers coat, ( that had to be a lot of drinks that night)
I had a pair of cuffs taken one time, I lost a days pay for that when I had to report the theft to the department. ( they owned the cuffs)

Also in the dept where I worked the coats, our shirts, pants, belts, all belonged to the dept, so at least where I worked, it would be stealing state property, not just the officers. And if there was a badge on the coat, it makes it a lot more serious.

I would get an attorney, and have them talk to the officer the department, and see if some action could be done that would make this go away, pay money to make this up, ( settlement) and perhaps some community service.

It's doubtful that the misspelling of the bar would get you off the hook. Did this happen in the U.S. or Canada? Has the coat been returned to the police officer? Just how much was it worth? Assuming that the police officer got his coat back and it wasn't worth an inordinate amount of money, you're most likely looking at a suspended sentence if even that. It's likely that the officer won't even bother showing up in court to testify against you, in which case the charges would most likely be dropped.

The officer got the coat back, once he arrested me I was arrested in a cab, wich the coat was on the floor of the cab, I live in ontario