Springfield police make arrest in dollar store burglaries

A Springfield man is serving 60 days in jail after pleading guilty to stealing cigarettes from a local smoke shop and is facing more charges in connection with dollar store burglaries.

Robert Walters, 44, pleaded guilty Monday to theft, according to court records. He was accused of grabbing two cartons of cigarettes and running from the Just Smokes store on June 9.

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“(The employee) got the cartons and set them down on the counter to start to ring un the transaction,” a police affidavit for the theft charge said. “As soon as she set them down the male grabbed both of the cartons and ran out the front door without even attempting to pay for them.”

After watching video surveillance from the incident at Just Smokes, Springfield police were able to identify Walters as a suspect and requested a warrant for his arrest, the affidavit says.

Just Smokes is on the 1900 block of Mitchell Blouvered.

And Walter’s plea doesn’t end his legal trouble. After watching the surveillance video, officers determined he matched the description of several dollar store break-ins in the city over the last couple weeks where cigarettes were also stolen.

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Walters is charged in Clark County court with two other counts of breaking and entering and Springfield police say more charges may be forthcoming.

He pleaded not guilty to the new charges.

Walters is charged with those in connection with two Dollar General store break-ins that took place on June 6 and June 13. He is accused of breaking into the Dollar General on Home Road and stealing cigarettes.

“Both front sliding glass doors had the bottoms broken out and there appeared to be approximately 100 packs of cigarettes that were gone from behind the counter,” the affidavit filed in connection with the June 13 burglary says. “The approximate total for the cigarettes was $700.”

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At least two other Dollar Generals were broken into last week, according to Springfield police reports, and cigarettes were also taken from them. Springfield Investigations Captain Tom Zawada said authorities are continuing to investigate the cases and Walters may face additional charges.

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