Two men arrested in Walgreens robbery make first court appearances
Police say the money taken in the last incident had a GPS tracker with it they used to trace them to an apartment.
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - The two men arrested Monday in connection with four Walgreens robberies in Omaha made their first appearances in court Tuesday morning.
63-year-old Jeffrey Walton was formally charged with four counts of robbery and one count of tampering with evidence. James Cooper, 45, was also formally charged with four robbery counts.
Police say the two men are connected with robberies at two Walgreens locations -- 50th and Center and 30th and Dodge -- between Nov. 12 and Nov. 19. In all four incidents, employees told officers a man walked in and demanded money from the register, holding his hand in his jacket or sweatshirt pocket as if he had a weapon, and left with cash.
Court documents state the last incident, just before 6 a.m. Sunday at the 50th and Center store, played out similarly to the others. This time, the money the man allegedly took had a GPS tracking device with it. That tracker was traced to Jackson Tower. An officer arrived there and viewed surveillance footage, which showed the suspect and another man leaving an apartment prior to the robbery.
The suspect, later identified as Cooper, was spotted wearing clothing similar to the robbery description. The car the two men were seen in also had clothing in it that matched suspect descriptions. An affidavit also states the men were seen carrying cash and placing it in a trash chute after the robbery. Additional searches found other clothing matching what had been described as worn at the other robberies. The men also allegedly told officers they tossed the cash from the last robbery after the GPS tracker fell out as they changed clothes.
Walton allegedly told officers Cooper offered him a ride to the stores on three occasions; he said he believed Cooper wanted only to steal property from the stores, but said he never left with any bags.
Both men have their bond set at $150,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 29.
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