After it became clear they had no criminal intent, they decided to change the crime to one that doesn't require criminal intent. The initial charges were on "third-degree burglary", but then changed to "misdemeanor trespassing".
1. Make a huge mistake (failing to immediately drop the charge)
2. Brush it under the rug (do nothing)
3. When caught pressing a nonsense charge with no good explanation, change the charges to something else unilaterally (!!)
4. When finally pressured enough by the public, drop the charges entirely.
This case should result in D.A. / prosecutor review. The cops have an excuse but this person does not. There is no room for ego like this when people’s lives are on the line. Being charged with a crime would ruin most anyone’s life for anywhere between a few days and many years, they need to be much more careful than this.
Further research shows it was while doing the activities.
Would’ve been impressive if they got away with it...
I understand that they didn't resist arrest:
> Deputies were friendly and interested as DeMercurio and Wynn explained how they used a lock-picking device to bypass a locked front door.
Looks like all participating in that initial encountered were having a laugh about this (while the dispatch center of course was running the check/authenticity of the claim). And then the politics/pissing contest started.
It would have been better if they (pentesters) had bodycams to have the evidence of the whole attempt. That would give them extra defensive points in court.