BLACKFOOT — Two men have been charged with multiple felonies after a multi-agency investigation linked them to a string of thefts from hardware and outdoor equipment retailers across Southeast Idaho and northern Utah, resulting in the recovery of more than $50,000 in stolen merchandise, authorities said.
James Thomas Cooper II, of Pingree, and Tony Paul Goans, whose address is listed in Power County, were separately arrested in June after detectives tied them to thefts from Ace Hardware stores in Aberdeen, Shelley and Brigham City, Utah, as well as C-A-L Ranch and Blackfoot Motorsports in Blackfoot and Tractor Supply Company in Pocatello, according to court records the Idaho State Journal obtained this week and a Bingham Joint Investigations Division news release issued earlier this month.
The investigation began after a Portacool evaporative fan valued at about $3,300 was reported stolen from Ace Hardware in Aberdeen on June 1, according to a probable cause affidavit filed against Goans in 7th District Court by Bingham County Sheriff's Detective K. Young.
Surveillance footage showed a red pickup truck towing a trailer while two people loaded the fan and left the parking lot, Young's affidavit states.
An anonymous tipster later identified one of the men in the footage as Goans and told investigators the truck was registered to a Power County address, according to the affidavit. A Power County sheriff's detective familiar with Goans through prior law enforcement contacts identified him and his mother as the two people shown in the video, the affidavit states.
Separately, Shelley police were investigating the theft of several push mowers, a riding tractor, a zero-turn mower and cottonwood trees from Ace Hardware in Shelley after a manager reported them missing May 29, according to a probable cause affidavit filed against Cooper by Shelley Police Detective W.L. Hayman. Surveillance video from businesses sharing a parking lot with the store showed a blue pickup truck and trailer returning to the area multiple times over two days in late May, with two people loading items into the truck bed and trailer each time, Hayman's affidavit states.
Detectives traced a partial license plate captured in the footage to a truck registered to a Pingree address, where the resident told police she had sold the truck days earlier to a friend she identified as Cooper, according to the affidavit. She said she had known Cooper for years and was aware he had previously served time in a Texas prison, the affidavit states.
Cooper was arrested June 5 at the Short Stop convenience store in Blackfoot, police said. While inventorying the truck, detectives said they found a locked box containing a syringe loaded with a substance that tested presumptively positive for methamphetamine, additional syringes and a glass pipe with residue, and a green leafy substance that tested presumptively positive for marijuana, according to a second, more detailed probable cause affidavit Hayman filed against Cooper on July 1 that expanded on the scope of the investigation. A search warrant executed on the box days later turned up suspected psilocybin mushrooms and a small amount of suspected THC wax, the affidavit states.
Investigators said recorded jail calls captured Cooper describing a storage unit "full" of stolen lawn mowers, dirt bikes, go-karts and weed trimmers, and asking a family member to locate Goans, who Cooper said knew about the unit, according to Hayman's affidavit.
Goans was arrested June 15 after detectives executed a search warrant at his residence, where he was identified as a suspect in the separate Aberdeen theft, police said. Following his arrest, Goans told detectives about a storage unit in Pocatello and a trailer hidden in Fort Hall that were both loaded with stolen property, and led investigators to both locations, according to Hayman's affidavit.
At a storage unit on McKinley Avenue in Pocatello, detectives said they recovered dozens of items, including riding and push lawn mowers, a go-kart, a vertical smoker, cedar raised garden beds and a fire pit. At the Fort Hall property, investigators recovered a gazebo, oversized dump carts, two motorcycles and a trailer, among other items, the affidavit states.
Representatives from Ace Hardware, CAL Ranch Stores and Blackfoot Motorsports later identified and reclaimed several of the recovered items as merchandise stolen from their stores, according to the affidavit. A detective also confirmed that some of the recovered property had been taken from an Ace Hardware location in Brigham City, Utah.
Goans later told detectives the truck used in the thefts belonged to Cooper, identified himself and Cooper in surveillance footage from the Shelley thefts, and said only Cooper had a key to the Pocatello storage unit, according to the affidavit.
Cooper was initially charged with a single count of grand theft in the June 8 complaint tied to the Shelley theft. Prosecutors filed an amended complaint July 2 adding conspiracy to commit grand theft and grand theft by possession of stolen property charges, and a subsequent prosecuting attorney's information filed July 14 brought his total to eight counts — grand theft, two counts of conspiracy to commit grand theft, grand theft by possession of stolen property, and four drug- and paraphernalia-related charges. Prosecutors have also filed notice seeking a persistent violator sentencing enhancement against Cooper, citing prior felony convictions in Texas for burglary of a habitation and manufacturing or delivery of a controlled substance, court records show.
Goans faces one felony count of grand theft in connection with the Aberdeen theft, and prosecutors have filed notice seeking a persistent violator enhancement against him as well, according to court records.
Cooper is scheduled for a pretrial conference Nov. 10 in front of 7th District Judge Daniel R. Clark, with a jury trial set for Dec. 9. Goans is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Sept. 17 in front of 7th District Magistrate Judge J. Scott Andrew, where prosecutors will attempt to present sufficient evidence to elevate his case to district court for trial.
Cooper's grand theft, conspiracy to commit grand theft, and grand theft by possession of stolen property charges each carry a maximum penalty of up to 14 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 if he is convicted. His methamphetamine possession charge carries a maximum penalty of up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000, while his three misdemeanor drug and paraphernalia charges each carry a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. If the persistent violator enhancement is applied, Cooper could face a substantially longer sentence on top of any of the underlying penalties.
Goans' grand theft charge carries a maximum penalty of up to 14 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 if he is convicted, and could also be lengthened if the persistent violator enhancement sought by prosecutors is applied.