A 60-year-old man is facing felony charges for allegedly breaking into an Eden Prairie convenience store and stealing over $3,000 worth of cigarettes in 2020.
Jerome Franklin Moot has been charged with three counts of burglary, theft, and possession of burglary or theft tools, according to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.
The complaint revealed that Moot broke into the Speedway store located at 6355 Point Chase Road in October 2020. He reportedly stole 31 cartons of cigarettes worth $3,441.75. The store manager identified Moot as the suspect, who was first seen on camera in the bathroom before he was caught on camera behind the store’s coolers. The area was only accessible to employees, but Moot gained access by going through the bathroom ceiling and cutting a hole in an interior wall to enter the backroom.
Eden Prairie Police officers found a hand saw left behind, which the manager confirmed did not belong to the store. The handle of the saw was swabbed for DNA, and the DNA profile matched Moot’s profile in the convicted offender database.
Moot also faces a pending burglary charge from Aug. 3, 2021, for allegedly stealing $2,800 worth of cigarettes from another convenience store. In this case, Moot crawled through a cooler to gain access to a locked employee’s only area. He is scheduled to appear for pretrial on Feb. 22 for the pending burglary charge.
Due to Moot’s insufficient mailing address, the charges for the Eden Prairie incident were issued via warrant, and he is currently not in custody.
If convicted, Moot could face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and/or $10,000 fines for each of the two felony charges of burglary and theft. He could also face a maximum sentence of three years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine for the third felony charge of possession of burglary or theft tools.
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