Cambridge Police Find Greek Coins With Suspect's Aid

The Cambridge police yesterday recovered yesterday eight ancient Greek coins valued at $90,000 that were stolen April 6 from the Fogg Art Museum.

One of the two suspects arrested for the theft helped the police get the coins back, Fidele S. Centrella, a detective in the Cambridge Police Department said yesterday.

However, Centrella refused to disclose the details of negotiations for the recovery of the coins and would say only, "We got them back as the result of an intensive investigation."

Suspects Arrested

The two suspects, Fred Pidge, 23 years old, of Waltham, and Francis B. De Meo, 30 years old, of Brookline, were apprehended April 12 by police in Newport News, Va., as they were allegedly attempting to burglarize a private home. Centrella said that the Virginia charges would probably be dropped "because the charges here are much more serious."

Detective Centrella and Sargeant James A. Roscoe also of the Cambridge Police Department brought the suspects back to Cambridge from Virginia Tuesday.

Pidge and DeMeo were arraigned yesterday morning in Massachusetts Third District Court on charges of grand larceny. If convicted, they may face sentences of up to five years each.

The coins came from Greek colonies in Sicily and Southern Italy and were minted in the sixth and fifth centuries, B.C. The coins were stolen the day before their three-month exhibition at the Fogg was scheduled to end.