Man arrested for peeping in windows while out on bond for similar crime

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - A Lincoln man has landed in the Lancaster County Jail, accused of looking in peoples’ windows and according to police, the suspect has been arrested around nine times for similar crimes since 2021.

Lincoln Police arrested 64-year-old Joseph Reyna near N 66th and Logan Avenue Thursday night after being called to the area by a 54-year-old woman.

Sgt. Chris Vollmer said the woman told police she got an alert on her home security system and saw a man matching Reyna’s description looking through her bedroom window.

Reyna was found in the area and arrested for trespassing and disturbing the peace.

A look at Reyna’s criminal history shows he’s been arrested on similar charges multiple times, with an arrest affidavit alleging the behavior dates back to 1985.

One of those cases was reported to police in September 2022 when a Lincoln man reported a man matching Reyna’s description was looking into the window of his ten-year-old son’s bedroom. A second case, reported to police on January 8, 2023, was reported by a Lincoln couple with four minor children. They told police a man, later determined to be Reyna, was seen looking in their windows and driving by their home slowly multiple times over two weeks.

Court documents show Reyna was arrested for those incidents on January 30. He’s facing charges of criminal trespassing and disturbing the peace. Those cases are still open and court records show Reyna failed to appear for dates related to the charges, was arrested on March 1 for failure to appear and bonded out on March 6. He’s set to appear again on those charges at the end of the month.

Reyna also served six months in jail after being arrested on similar charges in August 2021. In that case, police were called to a Lincoln couple’s home after a woman reported Reyna was looking through her windows with his hand down his pants. Police found Reyna in the area of the home and determined he matched surveillance video of the incident.

In that case, he was charged originally with four counts of trespassing and two counts of disturbing the peace. A judge amended the charges to two counts of disturbing the peace and sentenced Reyna to three months in jail each.

10/11 NOW was able to find Reyna was charged with disturbing the peace in 1985, but the details surrounding that incident aren’t readily available. Prison records show Reyna hasn’t spent any time in prison related to trespassing or peeping in windows but he did serve a few years in the late 1980′s, early 1990′s for forgery and theft.

Pat Condon, Lancaster County Attorney said despite Reyna’s criminal history, he’s already bonded out of jail on this case, because the level of charges allows him to pay a fine and immediately be released, without going before a judge first.

As far as how Reyna could continue getting out and re-offending, Condon said this case is a good example of how sentencing and charging laws in the state could be strengthened. He gave the example of creating an enhancement for criminal trespassing that would allow prosecutors to charge people for a second or third offense, allowing them to increase sentences.

Reyna has yet to be formally charged in the new case, but in the case filed earlier this year, Reyna could face a maximum of 18 months in jail.

Copyright 2023 KOLN. All rights reserved.