Omaha teen arrested after Lincoln shop loses $20,000 in burglary

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – An Omaha teen was arrested after a Lincoln clothing store was burglarized last August.

Jacobi Meridy, 18, was lodged in the Lancaster County Jail on Monday. He faces a single burglary charge and four outstanding arrest warrants in Sarpy County.

On Aug. 18, 2023, Lincoln Police officers responded to Exclusive Hype, a shop near 17th and O streets, around 6:30 a.m. A window was broken, and the shop had been ransacked.

Video surveillance from the shop showed three people try to pull the business’ door off using an SUV. When they were unsuccessful, the suspects threw a rock through the window and made their way inside.

Police estimated $20,000 worth of shoes and clothing had been taken from the shop.

Nearly one month later, a crime analyst with the Bellevue Police Department reached out to the Lincoln Police Department. The analyst was reviewing evidence from a vape shop burglary that happened the same day that Exclusive Hype was burglarized.

Meridy was already in custody in Douglas County, and the analyst said he’d been Googling the shop around the time of the burglary. He was also under GPS tracking when the Lincoln shop got hit.

The teen had been under monitoring between Jan. 17, 2023, and Aug. 25, 2023, the same day he’d been arrested. The GPS tracker placed Meridy at Exclusive Hype in the early hours of Aug. 18, according to an arrest affidavit.

Video surveillance and GPS data showed the suspects tried breaking into the shop three times before finally throwing a rock through the window and entering.

Once the shop had been burglarized, Meridy’s GPS tracking showed he returned to Omaha.

Meridy was arraigned on the burglary charge on Tuesday, and his bond was set at 10% of $10,000. He’s wanted back in Lancaster County Court on June 13.

It’s unclear if arrest warrants for the other two suspects in the case have been issued.

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