Police: 'Mastermind' got $80 in theft of safe

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By CORY MATTESON / Lincoln Journal Star

Mary E. McDaniel danced near a safe she allegedly helped target and steal, saying she was going to be rich, according to court documents.

She’d allegedly told accomplices before last spring’s theft it could contain upwards of $70,000.

Instead, her cut amounted to about $80, according to court documents.

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Then, last week, she got arrested.

On Monday, she was charged in Lancaster County Court with one count each of robbery and burglary. McDaniel was the fifth person arrested on suspicion of taking part in the theft.

On March 30, a Lincoln woman reported a woman knocked at her door and asked to use the phone because of car trouble. When the homeowner agreed, two men rushed inside and grabbed her home safe.

According to a probable cause affidavit, one of the others arrested identified McDaniel, 52, as the “mastermind.” 

McDaniel worked at a home cleaning service and cleaned the victim’s house several times, the affidavit states.

Another arrested suspect said McDaniel was aware the woman had a safe, that she owned several businesses and that she may have $60,000 to $70,000 in there.

McDaniel missed the low end of her estimation by about $59,500, according to the affidavit.

Following the theft, the alleged home invaders took the safe to McDaniel’s apartment, where she reportedly danced around, saying she was going to be rich and supplying tools to open it, according to one of the alleged perpetrators.

There was $465 inside, according to the affidavit. McDaniel allegedly received about $80.

She told police in May she had been forced to tell one of the alleged criminals about the safe and that she received no money. An arrest warrant for McDaniel was issued earlier this month.

Others arrested in the case are Aspen Hill, 19, Jamario James, 28, Nicole Bayone, 23, and Willie Sturgis, 24.

* Sturgis is awaiting trial on charges of burglary, robbery and theft by receiving stolen property over $1,500 in relation to the home invasion. He is also awaiting trial on two burglary charges stemming from an April 7 break-in at a home on the 7700 block of North Hazelwood Drive that allegedly involved many of the same people.

* Bayone is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 6 on an attempted robbery charge. Two charges have been dismissed: Theft by receiving and concealing stolen property related to the home invasion, and a burglary charge related to the April 7 break-in.

* James is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 14 on a robbery charge. Burglary and theft by receiving stolen property charges were dismissed.

* Hill’s charge relating to the home invasion — receiving stolen property — has been dismissed. She is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday on two counts of burglary stemming from the April 7 break-in at a home on the 7700 block of North Hazelwood Drive.

For McDaniel’s alleged part in the safe heist, Judge Mary Doyle set her percentage bond at $100,000.

Reach Cory Matteson at 473-7438 or cmatteson@journalstar.com.