Police responding to a burglar alarm early Thursday morning arrested two men inside Indiana Street School.
Christopher Branch, 39, and Richard Key, 22, were seen coming out of the library, Deputy Prosecutor Maxie Kizer said during a court hearing.
Detective Jacqueline Stevenson reported that officers received the alarm at about 4 a.m. and when they arrived, found a window broken and heard voices inside the building.
Kizer said after other officers arrived and secured the area, police went inside and arrested Branch and Key without incident.
Stevenson reported that while Branch and Key were in custody, one of the two said they had gone to the school to “hit a lick,” slang for commiting a robbery.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Kizer said Branch has pending charges of breaking or entering while Key is on probation after being convicted of residential burglary, theft of property and robbery.
Jefferson County District Judge Kim Bridgforth set a $25,000 cash only bond for Branch and Key after ruling prosecutors had probable cause to charge them with commercial burglary.
Branch told the judge he would hire his own attorney and the Public Defender’s Office was appointed to represent Key.
Both men were instructed to return to court Oct. 18.