Published: May 10, 2008 12:42 am            

Cooper pleads guilty to one burglary charge

Cooper, 19, attempted to rob the Thorntown IGA last November

Adam Cooper of Lebanon entered a plea of guilty to one charge of burglary earlier this week, as part of a plea agreement.

Cooper, 19, attempted to rob the Thorntown IGA last November, but got stuck in the vent shaft. Police had to lubricate the suspect with vegetable oil from the store’s shelves to pull him out.

Cooper was originally charged Wednesday with a Class C felony for burglary and two class B misdemeanors for criminal mischief and false informing, which stemmed from initially giving police the wrong name.

This week he entered a plea of guilty to the Class C felony in Boone Superior Court I. Sentencing is set for 2:30 p.m. on June 13 in Superior Court I.

The agreement calls for a five-year sentence, suspended, except for one year of time served. Cooper is to be released from jail on May 14 to await sentencing, and is to report to probation. Under the agreement he would be on probation for three years.

The agreement also stipulates that he would repay the IGA about $290.

According to the case report, Boone County Dispatch received a call from Stookey’s restaurant at about 10:30 on the night of the attempted break-in. The callers told police they heard someone screaming for help from the store down the block on Main Street.

Thorntown Police found a pair of jeans and shoes on the roof of the IGA and noticed the roof exhaust fan above the store’s deli had been removed. When they investigated, they found Cooper stuck 2 to 3 feet down the narrow shaft.

It appears that Cooper was stuck in the vent for at least an hour before someone heard him.

Emergency workers had to break through the store’s glass front door to try to pull Cooper out from the inside. They later poured vegetable oil down the shaft and handed Cooper a rope, and four men were able to pull him out.

The case report noted that earlier that day, Cooper had been on a cleaning team that had cleaned the store’s vent.

If Cooper had gone to trial and had been found guilty of all three charges, he could have faced up to nine years in prison and fines up to $12,000.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.