A Knoxville man arrested by Smithville Police for an auto theft which occurred in March was sentenced Tuesday in DeKalb County Criminal Court.

38 year old Bobby Joe Cooper entered a plea by criminal information to theft over $2,500 and received a two year sentence on TDOC probation. He must make restitution of $4,000 to the victim. He was given jail credit from April 1 through June 19.

Police were called to Walmart on March 16 where a man reported his vehicle had been stolen from the parking lot by a man he knew, Cooper, from the Sober Living House.

The victim said he had a chance encounter with Cooper at Walmart and that he (Cooper) had asked him for a ride. The victim said he told Cooper to wait until he got his shopping done. But after the victim finished his shopping and left the store he discovered his car was gone. The man told the officer that he left his keys in the ignition and suspected that Cooper had taken the vehicle. The victim said Cooper, who has a drug problem, had left Sober Living where he was residing. During the investigation, Police viewed surveillance video from Walmart and observed Cooper get into the car and drive away leaving the parking lot. A warrant was taken for Cooper’s arrest and he was picked up on May 16.

DCHS Tiger Paxton Butler signed a letter of commitment on June 18, 2018 to play NCAA baseball for Eastern Nazarene College, Quincy Massachusetts after his official campus visit June 11, 2018. Butler was awarded $72,000 in scholarships and grant from ENC. Butler will major in Environmental Science and earn his bachelors degree while attending the New England college. Paxton is the son of Ronda Butler of Smithville and Dennis Butler of Sparta.

Eastern Nazarene is a Private Christian Liberal Arts College on Boston’s south shores. BestColleges.com recently ranked ENC as #20 on its list of best colleges in the state, joining Harvard (#1) and MIT (#2) on the list.