On October 21, 2024, Yavapai County Superior Court Judge Michael Bruff sentenced Andrew James Cook, 26, of Prescott Valley, Arizona, to two and a half years in prison for organized retail theft. did. Judge Bruff also sentenced Cook to concurrent terms of one year in prison for possession of drug paraphernalia and six months in prison for drunk driving and resisting arrest.

“Shoplifting and organized retail theft have no place in Yavapai County,” said Yavapai County Attorney Dennis McGlen. It can be devastating. In too many other parts of the country, shoplifters are forced to close their doors because they are not prosecuted. “We hope this will serve as a deterrent to those who believe they have the right to steal instead of doing their job,” McGlenn said, adding that the Cottonwood Police Department and Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office are conducting a thorough investigation. He also praised the Walmart loss prevention officer who was the first to identify Mr. Cook.

The investigation revealed that on November 19, 2023, Cook and an unidentified accomplice entered a Walmart in Cottonwood, Arizona and grabbed a blanket and a shopping cart. They went to a jewelry store and placed a display case containing $1,000 worth of watches inside a blanket. The men then pushed the cart out of the store without paying. When the theft was discovered, Walmart loss prevention personnel reviewed surveillance video and noticed that one of the men was wearing a sweatshirt with the name of a local business on it. An employee called the company and learned the man was Andrew Cook.

Six days later, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office troopers found Cook sitting near a bag of methamphetamine in a vehicle they had stopped in an unrelated incident. Mr. Cook got into a scuffle with the deputies who tried to arrest him. During subsequent questioning, Mr. Cook eventually admitted his involvement in the theft of the watch.