Donation Box Thief Caught

(IRMO, SC) -- Joseph Morgan Cope of Columbia was arrested in connection with the theft of a Muscular Dystrophy Association donation box inside a Circle K convenience store in Irmo. Police credit a Crimestoppers tip for leading to the arrest.

Around 1:15 PM on April 18, 2009, investigators say Cope entered the Circle K at 7435 St. Andrews Road in Irmo, SC. They say he walked inside and placed a case of beer on the counter. The store video captures Cope moving the can off to the side while the clerk was distracted with finishing the transaction. Then Cope moved both the can and the case further over on the counter, out of the store employee's view. As another customer moves in to pay for her purchases, Cope can be seen taking the can and moving away from the counter. It is then reported that at this point, he left the store, went to his car and then returned to get the beer off the counter.

According to Irmo Police Chief Brian Buck, Cope was charged with Petit (Petty) Larceny for stealing approximately $30 from the store. He said that the crime was like "stealing money from the offering plate at church."

"Thanks to the local community working through Crimestoppers, we were able to make an arrest in this case," Buck said. "This case is a perfect example of the powerful combination that the community, law enforcement, and Crimestoppers can make."

Cope was taken to the Lexington County Detention Center to await a bond hearing.

Community response ranged from polite admonishments for taking something that didn't belong to him, to outright anger. One angry resident suggested "The only appropriate punishment for this jerk is to give him LOTS of community service hours that must be done either for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, or even better would be working directly with people who have MD. Only then will he be able to appreciate what those donations were meant for, and how terrible it was of him to steal from those folks trying to help people with MD." An unidentified Sumter resident quipped that the perpetrator be "buried under the jail. Don't feed him, don't clothe him, and don't give him any free medical care, let him depend on charity from others criminals to do that. Then he can see how important those boxes are to the folks who really need them."

Other donation box thefts worldwide in 2009 include teens stealing from a church in British Columbia, a children's heart charity in New Zealand, a donation box in the UK and another donation box along with a silver parasol and a brass dome from a Jain Temple in the Chhatarpur District of India.

Sources

Store Video courtesy of The State.com

http://www.thestate.com/local/story/802282.html

MidlandsConnect.com

http://www.midlandsconnect.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=296924