Attorney dad freed after $1M bail in missing-teen case is reduced to $5K
A lawyer arrested in Florida late last month as he was trying to board a plane for a court hearing in the Northern Mariana Islands has been freed from jail after his bail was reduced from $1 million to $5,000.
Bruce Jorgensen, 58, is charged with unlawful desertion of his 16-year-old son, Aage. The father says he hasn’t seen the teen since he kicked his son out of his vehicle during an argument, expecting him to walk home, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. Earlier Sun Sentinel stories about Jorgensen’s arrest and the $1 million bond provide additional details.
Police say no foul play is suspected, and the teen has been spotted twice since he exited his father’s vehicle near the end of December.
Authorities took issue, however, with what they described as a lack of cooperation by the father, who didn’t notify police about his missing child and declined to file a report when they contacted him. “He wouldn’t talk to us,” said detective Phil Toman of the Plantation police. “He didn’t give us any explanation.”
Jorgensen says his son has disappeared for lengthy periods twice before, once staying away for months in Hawaii, where the attorney also reportedly practices, when Aage was 13 years old. Although he didn’t contact police this time around, he did circulate fliers with the teen’s photo in the Plantation area after the latest disappearance and retained a private detective to search for his son, the newspaper reports. A security guard with whom Jorgensen spoke while searching for his son notified police.
Assistant Broward state attorney Eric Linder told a judge during a court hearing in early February that authorities weren’t initially able to confirm the Northern Mariana Islands court hearing after Jorgensen’s arrest at Miami International Airport and questioned whether Jorgensen, who reportedly had a one-way ticket to New Zealand, intended to return to Florida.
“I can’t imagine a responsible father or a parent flying to the other side of the world not knowing if his child is alive or dead,” the prosecutor said.
However, Jorgensen told Judge John Hurley that he had left his car at home, with money inside, for his son if he returned, the Sun Sentinel recounts.
“My son is somewhere in this jurisdiction, you couldn’t pry me away with a crowbar, your honor,” Jorgensen said. “This prosecution, for some reason, is trying to vilify me.”
Attorney Glenn Roderman, who is now representing Jorgensen, said his client was to fly from New Zealand on multiple connecting flights, including a private charter to the Northern Mariana Islands, where he was scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 29 for a civil litigation matter.
After his bail was reduced to $5,000 during a brief hearing Wednesday, Jorgensen posted bond and was released the same day, the Sun Sentinel reports.
Private investigator Dan Riemer, who was hired by Jorgensen to look for his son, was present at the hearing and said the father was in anguish while he was in jail, because he could not participate in the search for his son.
“When you take in custody a father and hold him in jail for no reason other than he’s not cooperating with you, then how is he supposed to find his son?” Riemer said.
Related coverage:
Marianas Variety: “Former NMI resident Bruce Jorgensen arrested in Florida for deserting son”
WPLG: “Plantation police search for missing teen; father accused of abandonment”
