BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) A Bridgeport man who said police planted his hat in the getaway car to incriminate him has been found not guilty of robbing a bank.

The Connecticut Post reports the Superior Court jury convicted Tyrone King of carrying a dangerous weapon. He had a flare gun when police arrested him.

Brad Buchta, the public defender who represented the 55-year-old King, said sloppy police work nearly led to the conviction of an innocent man.

King had been charged with the Jan. 15 holdup of the Webster Bank on Main Street.

He testified that police took a hat he had in his pocket and put it in the getaway car. He claimed he saw the money in the abandoned car and the dye pack in the abandoned car and took it.