STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — The lawyer for an art gallery owner asked Connecticut authorities on Tuesday to drop charges against him and return a steel sculpture of drug spoon that was seized after being placed in front of a drug maker's headquarters in protest of the opioid overdose crisis.

Fernando Alvarez was arrested on misdemeanor charges last month after he and artist Domenic Esposito dropped the nearly 11-foot-long (3-meter-long), 4-foot-high (1-meter-high) sculpture in front of Purdue Pharma in Stamford. Esposito, who created the artwork, was not arrested.

Purdue Pharma has denied allegatio...