Cooper

MILL CREEK — A Randolph County man is facing two felony charges after allegedly breaking into a woman’s garage and stealing more than $10,000 worth of items.

Robert Eugene Cooper, 41, is charged with one count of burglary and one count of grand larceny, both felonies. He is currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $15,000 cash-only bond.

According to the criminal complaint, filed by Senior Deputy A.M. Channell with the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, on Dec. 23, Channell spoke with the alleged victim about her Mill Creek residence being broken into.

She stated that, on Nov. 19, she came home and noticed that some of the smaller items from her garage were now located on the porch area of the residence, the complaint states. She also found her Ring video doorbell camera was “laying face down on the concrete.”

In the garage, the alleged victim said she found that “everything had been thrown around” and several items were missing, the complaint states. It was also clear that someone had attempted to break into actual home.

The alleged victim compiled a list of items stolen and their cost, the complaint states. The list of stolen items includes three full clothing racks full of name brand clothes worth $3,000, two full totes of name brand shoes and boots worth $1,600, one full tote full of new purses worth $1,000, five totes of baby and toddler clothes worth $1,500, an Ozark Trail cooler worth $150, 10 totes of household and holiday decorations worth $2,500, four construction size large trash bags of approximately 15 to 20 holiday wrapping paper rolls per bag worth $400, a vanity mirror worth $100, a pink hardback suitcase worth $200, 10 bags of wood pellets worth $100 and a chandelier worth $100. The total worth of the items stolen is approximately $10,650.

Previously, on Dec. 12, Channell was contacted by a witness who stated that he believed someone had been “living in one of the bathrooms at the baseball field” in Mill Creek near Liggett’s Supply, the complaint states. Upon arrival, Channell observed several items on the floor of the bathroom, “ranging from clothing to suitcases and an Ozark Trail cooler.” The witness told Channell that he believed most of the items in the bathroom belonged to the alleged victim and informed Channell of the November break-in.

The witness also told Channell that he believed the suspect’s last name was Cooper, the complaint states. Channell also located three hand tools in the bathroom that were reported stolen from Liggett’s Supply on Dec. 11.

On Dec. 23, Channell spoke with Cooper, who allegedly claimed that the items in the bathroom belonged to him and his girlfriend, the complaint states. Cooper allegedly said the items were from different people in town.

When Channell stated that he was investigating thefts in the area and that Cooper’s name had come up, Cooper allegedly said his name had been “going around town for a while now” and that he was not involved with the thefts.

Later on, the alleged victim told Channell that she had put trail cameras on her porch to catch anyone coming onto her property, the complaint states. The alleged victim said she had two videos from Dec. 22 that show a male subject coming onto her porch and stealing a bag of wood pellets. When Channell watched the videos, he observed that the male subject was wearing shoes that, he claimed, were “a match to the same shoes (Cooper) had on” when Channell spoke with him on Dec. 23.

On Dec. 26, Channell spoke with Cooper again, telling him that there was footage of him stealing wood pellets from a house in Mill Creek, the complaint states. Channell pointed out that the shoes that the man was wearing in the video were allegedly a match for the shoes Cooper wore on Dec. 23 and at the time of this conversation.

According to the complaint, Cooper allegedly said that another man had “borrowed his shoes” and that he was the person seen on the video. Cooper denied having anything to do with the wood pellet theft, as well as the previous break-in and burglary.

On Dec. 27, Channell spoke with the man who allegedly borrowed Cooper’s shoes, the complaint states. When asked if he was involved with the break-in and burglary, the man allegedly said that Cooper had contacted his girlfriend and asked him to meet him at a residence. When the man arrived, he allegedly noticed Cooper had boxes of things already stacked up. The man asked Cooper if all of the stuff was his and Cooper allegedly said yes. When the man said he did not believe him, Cooper allegedly told him to “hurry up and help him” move the stuff to the next residence over.

The man allegedly told Channell that, when he had finished helping Cooper move the items, he asked his girlfriend if Cooper knew the people who owned the residence, to which she said Cooper did not know them, the complaint states.

According to the complaint, Channell asked the man if he had ever borrowed clothes from Cooper, to which he allegedly said he did not. The man added that Copper would wear his shoes sometimes and then give them back, but that he had “never worn a pair of (Cooper’s) shoes.” When Channell asked about the shoes seen on the video and on Cooper’s person, the man allegedly said he had never worn those shoes.