BY JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
A judge ruled Wednesday there was enough evidence to try a Hays man for theft and aggravated burglary in connection with a stolen pickup in Hays in July.
Magistrate Judge Brendon Boone presided over the hearing of Stelieh Jordan Stegmeier and found there was sufficient evidence for Stegmeier to stand trial. An arraignment date is still to be determined pending District Judge Blake Bittel’s schedule.
Stegmeier is faces felony theft and aggravated burglary charges in an alleged incident, which occurred July 16 in Ellis County.
According to the Hays Police Department, a 2011 Ford F150 pickup was stolen from a driveway in the 1700 block of Wheatland Avenue in Hays in the early morning hours on July 16.
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The victims, Jeff and Amy Schoenberger, testified that when they went to bed on the night of July 15, the pickup was parked in their driveway. Jeff Schoenberger said when he went to leave for work the next morning his pickup was no longer in the driveway.
Amy Schoenberger said after noticing the pickup was missing, she also noticed a purse containing a spare key to the pickup and a pair of sunglasses was also taken from inside the garage. So she called police to report the theft.
The Schoenbergers testified they were unsure if the garage door was locked overnight, but Jeff Schoenberger said his pickup was locked.
At approximately 11:42 p.m. Sunday, July 17, Victoria Police Officer Brian Mock encountered Stegmeier at a group of storage units behind Pump and Supply.
Mock testified he was doing his regular business checks in the area when he noticed a pickup parked in between the units. After finishing his rounds, he pulled in and checked on the pickup. There he was approached by a man he identified at Wednesday’s hearing as Stegmeier.
Mock said they had a brief conversation about what Stegmeier was doing in the area. Stegmeier allegedly told the officer he was putting a boat in a unit. When asked, Stegmeier was vague about what unit he put the boat in, but, when pressed, Mock said Stegmeier pointed to 11A.
Investigator Jeff Ridgeway with the Hays Police Department testified Wednesday that on July 28 officers served a search warrant on a house, where Stegmeier and another person live, in the 500 block of West 16th Street. Neither occupant was a home at the time.
Ridgeway said while searching the residence, a place he said they have investigated multiple times, they discovered a pair of blue sunglasses similar to the ones allegedly stolen from the Wheatland Avenue residence. The sunglasses were identified as similar to the ones that the Schoenbergers bought for their son in July, although they could not definitively state they were the glasses taken from their garage.
Also during the search of the house on West 16th, officers found a key. Ridgeway testified that during the investigation Ellis County Sheriff’s Detective Scott Braun used the key on the lock at the storage unit in Victoria. He said the key unlocked storage unit 11A, but officers did not open the unit until they obtained a search warrant.
A Ford F150 pickup, later identified as Schoenberger’s, was found inside the storage unit, according to Ridgeway. The purse and key to the pickup were not located, but Ridgeway said they called Schoenberger to identify the pickup.
In his final statement, Lyon argued the state had met the burden for probable cause to charge Stegmeier with felony theft and aggravated burglary because the key found at Stegmeier’s house matched the storage unit Stegmeier was seen at the next day.
Stegmeier’s lawyer argued the state did not meet the burden because there was no testimony putting Stegmeier at the garage where the items were taken and said authorities did not provide enough evidence tying Stegmeier to the storage unit.
Judge Brendon Boone sided with the state and found there was probable cause to bind Stegemeier over on both the theft and aggravated burglary charges.
