Suspects in court today on burglary charges

Two Cape Girardeau residents are scheduled to be arraigned on burglary charges today after police said they stole prescription drugs and loose change from an area apartment last week.

Kentasha Moore, 24, and Jerome Bridges, 28, each charged with felony counts of second-degree burglary and theft of a controlled substance, are to appear before Judge Gary Kamp at 11 a.m. in Jackson. Moore faces an additional charge of possession of burglary tools. Authorities said they found her with a screwdriver hidden in her clothes that matched the marks on the apartment's door.

Deputies with the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department were dispatched Thursday afternoon to an apartment complex in the 1100 block of Cape Hills Drive after two neighbors reported an apparent crime in progress. The two who alerted authorities said they watched a man and woman walk out of their building and toward another one shortly after 1 p.m., according to a probable-cause statement prepared by deputy Justin Kemp.

Jerome Bridges

The woman used a "long metal-type object" to gain entry into one of the apartments on the lower floor, Kemp said, and used her shirt sleeve to pull the door closed behind her. After she went in, the man stayed outside, apparently to stand watch, Kemp said.

After the woman came out, she tried to get into another apartment, but was unable to do so, the callers told police.

Several deputies responded and found Moore and Bridges, who Kemp said matched the description given by the callers. The two denied participating in the burglary and Bridges said they were in the area to visit his father and to clean the home of an aunt.

The medicine, one of which was a controlled substance, was found in the home of Moore's aunt, along with $22 in change. Conviction on the charges carries a possible punishment of 18 years in prison for Moore and 14 for Bridges.

Online court records Sunday did not show a lawyer for either defendant.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Cape Hills Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.