Joshua Travis Cooper of Cotter was sentenced to 20 years in prison during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday after pleading guilty to charges stemming from the armed robbery of the Bayman Beverage Store on West Main Street in Cotter on January 11th.
According to court records, a man, later identified as the 35-year-old Cooper, entered the store armed with a handgun, forced the on-duty clerk to empty the cash register and also demanded he be given cigarettes. It was determined about $600 in cash was taken in the robbery.
Surveillance cameras at the liquor store showed the suspect fleeing west on the store’s parking lot toward a nearby apartment complex.
A number of law enforcement agencies became involved in searching for the robber. At one point, a citizen turned in a wallet to police that had been found in the vicinity of the robbery. The wallet contained an identification card in the name of Joshua Travis Cooper. When investigators ran the name through the National Crime Information Center, it was discovered that Cooper had an active warrant in Colorado. The picture of Cooper on his driver’s license matched the person seen on the surveillance video at the liquor store.
As the investigation continued, a vehicle suspected of being involved in the incident was identified. On January 12th, the vehicle was spotted on State Highway 101 North in the Gamaliel area. The vehicle was stopped and Cooper was taken into custody.
The vehicle also contained items investigators believed were connected to the robbery. According to a news release from Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery, the items in the vehicle included clothing believed to be a match to what the suspect was wearing during the robbery, cash, a chrome plated handgun and cigarettes with tax stamps indicating they had come from the Cotter business. Investigators also found a quantity of methamphetamine in the vehicle.
In addition to the liquor store robbery, Cooper also admitted he had broken into vending machines in several locations.
After the formalities of his sentencing had been completed, it was indicated Cooper wanted to address the court. He told Judge Gordon Webb he wanted to apologize “to anyone who might have been harmed in my case.”
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