A teenager already facing a minimum of three years in prison — who police said tried to concoct an escape from jail last month — landed back in police custody after a manhunt through Oakdale.
Eighteen-year-old Collin Willert was arrested last Tuesday following a foot pursuit with officers, according to Antelope County Sheriff Bob Moore. Willert was wanted on a felony warrant after failing to comply with bond conditions that denied him contact with a specific Antelope County junvenile. Willert was arrested in July for unlawful discharge of a firearm inside Neligh city limits, along with other charges, and was released from the Antelope County Law Enforcement Center on Sept. 3 after 10 percent of his $25,000 bond was posted. Moore said Willert listed the Norfolk Rescue Mission as his address upon his release. On Sept. 18, Willert was arrested after a manhunt. Moore said the father of the juvenile Willert was not supposed to contact called Willert’s probation officer that morning and said he found Willert in his home. Moore said the father “chased him out of the house” and Willert crawled outside via a window. The probation officer then contacted the sheriff’s department, which Moore said was about the same time Neligh-Oakdale Schools notified police that three students had left the premises, including the juvenile Willert was to have no contact with. At about 10 a.m., Moore said he spotted two of the three Neligh-Oakdale students, including the juvenile in question, and returned both to school. He then began searching Oakdale for Willert but could not locate the teenager. Moore said at 2:36 p.m., the father of the juvenile called police and said he returned from work and found Willert in his home again. Like before, he told police Willert left through a window and went down an alley. Moore, along with a deputy, the Neligh Police and Nebraska State Patrol, began another search for Willert. “That’s when the manhunt began,” Moore said. “We were scouring Oakdale, looking in abandoned houses and all over.” Moore said they received a tip that Willert was at 103 6th Street, which is the Penny Buck residence. Police responded to the Buck residence at 4:44 p.m. Upon their arrival, Willert ran from the residence with officers following on a foot pursuit several blocks and through a field. Willert was apprehended at 4:57 p.m. on the north side of the Dean and Linda Wilkinson residence in a grass field. “This was good teamwork between the sheriff’s department, Neligh Police and the Nebraska State Patrol,” Moore said. “Everyone worked together to apprehend this individual.” Willert is being held at the Antelope County Law Enforcement Center with no bond. He will return to district court on Wednesday and is facing obstruction charges, along with failure to comply with his bond. Moore said additional charges are pending. During Willert’s last district court appearance, his attorney Martin Klein requested bond for Willert be reduced from $10,000 to $5,000. But Antelope County Attorney Joe Abler advised Judge James Kube that law enforcement had discovered drawings and an escape plan in Willert’s cell. Abler requested the judge deny the request for bond reduction and reminded Judge Kube that Willert, who Abler said is from the Valentine area, but listed his current address as Oakdale, previously had his bond reduced from $50,000 to $10,000. Kube not only denied the request, but he then increased the bond to $25,000. According to his court records, Willert allegedly took a shotgun to 809 E 3rd Street in Neligh on July 16, where he and a juvenile discharged the shotgun in the house numerous times through a bedroom wall. During an investigation the following day, records show two juveniles told Neligh Police Chief Mike Wright that Willert brought his 20 gauge shotgun to their home. One of the two juveniles admitted to discharging the gun with Willert while the other witnessed the act and was “extremely fortunate he was not injured or killed.” Wright and Antelope County Deputy Doug Hartman located Willert in Oakdale at the residence he was found at on Sept. 18. Records show Willert originally denied knowledge of discharging the shotgun but later admitted to shooting through the wall. In the July incident, Willert was charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm, a Class ID felony; contributing to the delinquency of a child, Class I misdemeanor; disturbing the peace, Class III misdemeanor; and criminal mischief less than $500, a Class III misdemeanor. |
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