Preliminary hearing requested by accused burglar

Debra F. Jordan, 54, currently in custody at the Antelope County Law Enforcement Center in Neligh, no permanent address listed, appeared in the Antelope County courtroom in Neligh for arraignment on Class 2A felony burglary and Class 1 misdemeanor theft charges last Wednesday, July 21.

If convicted, the burglary count carries a penalty up to two years in jail and potential for restitution, while a theft charge conviction could result in a $1,000 fine and/or up to a year in jail.

County attorney Joe Abler amended Count I,to a Class 2A felony. He had originally filed it as a Class 3 felony.

The defendant requested preliminary hearing, which Taylor set for Aug. 4.

Jordan’s court-appointed counsel, Melissa Figueroa, requested a personal recognizance bond. Abler objected, citing a review of the probable-cause affidavit alleged the theft from her employer after hours to fund a drug habit.

“Personal recognizance bond is not appropriate,” Taylor said before she reduced bond from $20,000, 10% cash, to $10,000, 10%. Bond is continued. Jordan was remanded to the custody of Antelope County sheriff Robert Moore, pending posting of bond.

Jordan was arrested July 15 in Norfolk, by a Tilden police officer, following an investigation into an alleged theft of two envelopes containing $1,127 from a safe at JB Mart in Tilden after the business closed the night before. The alleged crime was captured on security camera. According to a probable-cause affidavit filed by the officer, camera footage showed the defendant entering the store’s front door with a key, disabling an alarm system and retrieving a key from a desk drawer in the manager’s office to open the safe, located at the front of the store. The key was then replaced in the desk drawer and the alarm reset.

Nebraska State Patrol assisted in the investigation.