Posted on 11/09/2006 2:52:45 PM PST by Huntress
“We are horribly sorry,” the cop said.
The 17-year-old girl who was wrongly locked in jail for seven days might be feeling terribly lucky.
Amanda Sylvester might still be in jail, facing criminal charges that included aiding and abetting a robbery, were it not for an anonymous tip to a Crimestopper hotline.
Her arrest and arraignment stemmed from mistaken identity, according to Lieutenant Rick Ryan of the North Platte Police Department. One of the men involved in the recent robbery of a Kwik Shop identified Sylvester through a photograph, but said he didn’t know her name.
“Amanda Sylvester was not involved in the robbery,” Ryan said. “We have no information or any reason to believe that Amanda is involved in drugs or any illegal activity. We are horribly sorry about what happened.”
To make matters worse for Sylvester, she had been arraigned as a adult and County Judge Kent Turnbull set bail at $250,000; she would have had to post $2,500 to be released.
Sylvester cried in court October 24 as Turnbull read the charges to her.
"I wasn't even there," Sylvester said. "I know these guys but don't understand why they're using my name."
"That may be all true but at this point; I just don't know," Turnbull said. "Talk to your attorney."
Although she is only 17, Sylvester was arraigned as an adult.
A week later, the Crimestopper tip led to the arrest of Kayce Schildhauer, 19, of North Platte.
Ryan said the women have very similar looks, and that the mistake was easily understood because of it.
“They have the same color hair, they’re about the same size and they wear the same earrings,” Ryan said. “But they are two different people.”
Her guardian said she was concerned about the way Sylvester had been treated by the system – especially the fact that she was arraigned as an adult.
Investigators brought Schildhauer in for questioning, which resulted in her arrest, Ryan said.
Sylvester’s photograph and name had previously been used by local media, informing the community that she was a suspect.
"There have been some really nasty, ugly, things said about Amanda that never should have been allowed," Ryan said.
Police Chief Martin Sutschenritter apologized for the error, adding “There is a lesson to be learned here, that everything isn’t always what it appears.”
In addition to Schildhauer, three suspects have been arrested in the case: Nicholas T. Zierke, 19; Jesse S. Dorris, 25; Erik C. Ritter, 19.
What an amazing likeness---even down to the part of the hair. The Lord will work it for her good.
They looks so much alike its scary. I saw a guy once in a mall when I was around 20 years old that looked so much like me it freaked me out.
Separated at birth?
They look lik twins. Terrible for that poor girl, but I can see how the cops made that mistake.
Here's a thought: is it possible that the suspect knew the innocent party, and was deliberately attempting to frame her by imitating her? The way the photo looks, it's as if she was posing to make her own picture look exactly like the victim...
Holy smoke! That's just downright eerie. I would have been fooled.
Good thing she wasn't in Durham or Nifong would keep her in jail anyway, just on general principle that the DA is never wrong. . .
Even the same earrings! They looks like they could be TWINS!
Same eyebrow piercing, same lipstick, same earrings.
I get that all the time too.
I must have a generally common set of features. I have actually had people come up to me on the street and give a friendly ration of sh*t as if they know me..then when they realize they don't know me, they get embarrassed.
Wow that happened to me too at Home Depot in the mirror section.
He was even dressed the same!!!!
I believe that Nebraska still uses a system where bonding is done though the court, and bail bondsmen are not permitted. The state is in the bonding business. Also, if she had a $250,000 bond, her bail would have been $25,000 not $2500. Nebraska is a 10% state.
Creepy likeness.
White people look all the same.
I am really curious why the police even presented the picture of the younger woman to the suspect.
Amanda needs a good civil liberties lawyer.
Didn't they bother with fingerprints?
See the Hitchcock movie from around 1957 called "The Wrong Man" with Henry Fonda.
Have they been seen in the same room together?
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