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Jury selection, trial set for woman accused of 21 counts of burglary

Jury selection and a trial date are set for a Sidney woman who is charged with 21 counts of burglary.

In court Wednesday morning, Mindy Richmond, who is charged with 21 counts of felony burglary, waved her right to a speedy trial.

"It is often the case that cases may need extended time frames," Judge Derek Weimer said.

Weimer set jury selection for 8:30 a.m. on Friday, June 17. The trial is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, June 20.

"Considering the nature of the charges, I'm bringing in a large (pool of potential jurors," Weimer said.

Richmond was arrested in June after another woman, Tanya Yates, approached the Sidney Police Department and told authorities Richmond had carried out multiple burglaries.

According to court testimony, Yates provided police with a list of county residences that had been burglarized. Law enforcement officials were able to cross-reference some of the addresses with open burglary cases.

In an interview with police last summer, Yates said she had traveled with Richmond to numerous homes while Richmond burglarized them for prescription pills, money, jewelry and name brand clothing.

"Yates further explained that Richmond needed a lookout and also someone to watch over children that were in the vehicle during the burglaries," the affidavit states.

According to police, Yates had a notebook listing many of the houses burglarized in Cheyenne County, "but only ones that she knew the names of owners or residents."

The 11-page affidavit lists 42 residences that were allegedly burglarized, including what was stolen.

At some homes, nothing was taken, Yates told police. At others, however, the duo returned multiple times.

A home in Sidney was burglarized frequently "because Richmond knew children in the residence were struck by a vehicle and they would have pain medication," Yates told police.

At another address, "Yates advised that Richmond broke into [a law enforcement officer's] residence and was 'freaked out' because it was a police officer's house, but nonetheless took pain meds from the residence," according to the affidavit.

The criteria used to select houses ranged from opportunistic to callous: Some homes were broken into because of information gleaned from social media postings, others because it was known the resident was ill or had died and there'd likely be prescription drugs on hand, according to a review of the affidavit.

In one instance, Yates told police Richmond portrayed herself as a director of home health to gain entry, and while in the residence, stole medication.

A search in June of two Sidney residences linked to Richmond as well as her vehicle led to the discovery and seizure of jewelry, clothing and numerous prescription pill bottles – most empty – with labels removed.

 

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