On Wednesday February 8, 2017 at approx. 8:37 a.m. The Mitchell Department of Public Safety Dispatch Center received a 911 telephone call from a Game Stop employee. The employee stated that a male subject, who claimed to have a gun, had entered the Mitchell store through the front door, robbed the business and left with two bank deposits and other cash totaling over $2,000, as well as the employee’s wallet contents. The employee also stated that, prior to leaving the store, the suspect put the stolen items in a blue backpack. The employee told a responding Officer that the suspect was a black man and that the suspect left with the store surveillance camera video recorder. The employee also provided a description of the suspect and what the suspect was wearing.
A Surveillance camera video recording obtained from a nearby business showed that the incident did not occur as reported by the employee. Officers discredited other aspects of the employee’s story during the investigation of this case.
A blue colored backpack containing $ 1,647.55 in cash and change, Game Stop store receipts, keys to locks at Game Stop and a binder used to keep the 2017 bank deposits was found hidden in the lowered ceiling of the store. The store surveillance camera digital video recorder was found hidden in the lowered ceiling in another section of the store.
The employee, 34-year-old Mitchell resident Aaron Bradley Cooper, date of birth 05-31-82 was arrested for the offenses of False Reporting to Law Enforcement, in violation of S.D.C.L. 22-11-9, and for Grand Theft of More than $1,000 but less than $2,500 in violation of S.D.C.L. 22-30A-17. This is an ongoing investigation.
The Davison County Sheriff’s Office assisted with this investigation.
False Reporting to Law Enforcement is a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by one-year imprisonment in a county jail and/or a $2,000 fine. Grand Theft of More than $1,000 but less than $2,500 is a Class 6 felony punishable by 2 years imprisonment in the state penitentiary and/or a fine of $4,000.
Source: MPD
