‘Person Of Interest’ Cosmo DiNardo Held On $5 Million Cash Bail After New Charges

Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub announced Wednesday afternoon that Cosmo DiNardo, 20, of Bensalem, also a “person of interest” in the case of four missing men from throughout the region, was once again taken into police custody.

Weintraub noted that the new charges filed against DiNardo relate to theft of a vehicle and receiving stolen property.

About 40 reporters and several Bucks County prosecutors were crammed inside of Buckingham Township District Judge Maggie Snow’s office for arraignment proceedings.

Sitting in the Bensalem Police Department, DiNardo appeared before the district judge via a video feed. He was wearing a grey sleeveless shirt. He was respectful throughout the proceeding, answering questions from Snow dutifully.

After a brief back and forth between First District Attorney Gregg Shore and Michael Parlow and Paul Lang, DiNardo’s hired attorneys, Snow yielded to the request of the county.

DiNardo’s bail was set at $5 million cash, an amount Snow said she had never set before.

Shore requested the high bail, citing DiNardo’s lack of criminal record but called him a “dangerous person.” He also noted he might flee the area, has a history of being diagnosed with schizophrenia and his family’s large net worth.

“Based on the danger to the community, risk of flight and mental instability,” Shore said.

“They want to charge him after he made bail, and that’s just wrong,” Parlow said. The sentiment, Parlow explained, is that the county simply wants to keep DiNardo locked up, not caring about the ethics of the case.

Arguing against the bail, Parlow and Lang said that no new information has come to light since the last time DiNardo was charged, and information is being used only to assure a higher bail. Snow agreed with county officials in the end, saying she believes DiNardo is a grave risk to Bucks County residents.

When DiNardo was arraigned on a refiled weapon charge on Monday, his bail was set at 10 percent of $1 million by a Bensalem district judge. By Tuesday evening, DiNardo’s father has posted $100,000 to the county and his son was freed.

According to authorities, on Sunday, July 9 around 4 a.m. 21-year-old Thomas Meo’s vehicle was found along Aquetong Road in Solebury on a property owned by the DiNardo family. It was two days after Meo’s girlfriend said she last spoke to him and one day after he was officially reported missing by his family. Mark Sturgis, 22, whose vehicle was found less than two miles away near a business in Solebury, was last seen with Meo last week.

The property along Aquetong Road is a short distance through some woods from a large 70-acre tract being searched for local, federal and state police in connection with the disappearance of the four young men, including Jimi Patrick, 19 , of Newtown Township and Dean Finocchiaro, 19, of Middletown .

Court documents show that keys and the title to Meo’s vehicle were found hanging up on the wall inside a garage on the property. Meo’s life-saving diabetic supplies, which his mother said he never went anywhere without, were subsequently found inside his 1996 Nissan Maxima.

On Sunday, July 9, around 4:30 p.m., Bucks County Detectives reportedly interviewed an unnamed friend of DiNardo’s who alleged that DiNardo called him on Saturday, July 8 around 5 p.m. to meet up. The pair, both of Bensalem, met at Bristol and Galloway Roads where DiNardo offered to sell Meo’s vehicle, an older model Nissan Maxima, for $500.

Weintraub told press during a 3 p.m. conference on Wednesday that Meo’s car title was still unsigned, proving that Meo had not authorized the sale.

Court documents also state that DiNardo’s vehicle, which he told police is a 2016 silver Ford pickup, along with Meo’s vehicle were seen driving within seconds of one another on Street Road in Solebury Township at 7:49 p.m. on Thursday, July 7, the day Meo, Sturgis, and 19-year-old Dean Finocchiaro were last seen.

DiNardo was arraigned by District Judge Maggie Snow on the newly approved charges at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday afternoon and remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility on $5 million.

Weintraub told the press Wednesday afternoon that he would attempt to argue a “very high full cash bail” rather than 10 percent.

Investigators seemed to have picked up their efforts to search for the four missing young men at a the large Solebury property, which the district attorney’s office said was worth $5 million.

Local detectives and FBI evidence technicians appeared to focus most of their efforts on an area near a debris pile. The crews set up tents as they dug into the ground.

Weintraub said Wednesday morning that no human remains had been found. He added that tips from the public are aiding their investigation.

Anyone with information on tips that could help investigators are asked to dial 215-297-8201 or submit information online.

Editor/Publisher Tom Sofield contributed to this story.

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.