Casper Man Arrested for Burglary, Theft, Criminal Entry
A Casper man faces several criminal charges including one count of felony theft after allegedly pawning over $1,000 worth of his sister's jewelry, kicking in doors and stealing taking another woman's television from her home.
Alexander P. Cochran, 20, was booked on charges of felony theft, three counts of false claims or vouchers, burglary and criminal entry. The charges are recommended by Casper police in three separate incidents; it will be up to the Natrona County District Attorney's Office to formally file charges against Cochran.
On Friday at about 6:30 p.m., an officer spoke with Cochran's sister, who said Cochran stole her rings and took them to a pawn shop.
The woman said she left town on July 3 and planned to return July 4. She said she agreed to let Cochran stay at her place while she was out of town.
But a few days later, on Friday, the woman noticed several rings were missing from her jewelry box. The rings had been there before she left town on July 3.
She immediately called Cochran, who reportedly said he had never gotten into the jewelry box, but later allegedly said he opened the jewelry box to retrieve his tongue ring. His sister did not believe Cochran would ever put his tongue ring in the jewelry box.
Cochran then reportedly told her the rings were at a pawn shop.
She claimed at least 12 rings were missing, with a total value of over $1,000. Police went to find Cochran so he could be questioned. As it turned out, Cochran had already been arrested and was in custody at the Natrona County Detention Center.
About an hour after police responded to the call about the missing jewelry, another officer was sent to a home on North Kimball Street for a report of a residential burglary.
The victim in that incident said a man kicked in her door and stole a television before fleeing.
At about 7:30 p.m., the victim told police, she had returned home an found a gray Chrysler parked in her driveway, with the man -- later identified as Cochran -- standing next to the vehicle.
Cochran allegedly met the woman at her car and asked her what she was going to to about her front door, which was wide open. The victim went inside her home and found her television missing from her bedroom and a piggy bank broken on the floor.
She returned outside and confronted Cochran, noticing her television was in the back seat of Cochran's car. Cochran reportedly said he didn't know how the television got there.
The victim told him to put the television back inside, which Cochran did. Then, he reportedly said he didn't know who the gray Chrysler belonged to, but announced his intention to steal it. He got inside and drove off.
When police responded, the victim described Cochran and said she recognized him as someone she had met about two months prior. A witness reportedly told police she saw the Chrysler pull up to the victim's home before hearing about eight "kicking" noises coming from that direction.
Shortly after 10:30 p.m., three police officers responded to a disturbance on Jim Bridger Avenue. Two officers saw the gray Chrysler parked outside the home, running with the lights on. Cochran was reportedly identified as being at the home, but allegedly fled with "other parties involved."
Police then again found the Chrysler near the intersection of De Smet and Sheridan, where officers stopped the car.
Cochran claimed to be borrowing the vehicle from the registered owner. Officers took him to the police department for an interview.
The owner of the Chrysler said she was good friends with Cochran and had agreed to let him borrow the car at about 5:45 p.m. Cochran was gone for several hours, the woman said, and did not respond to the owner's calls or texts.
The owner also reportedly said she knew Cochran had stolen several rings from her friends in the past week. Police released the vehicle to her.
Cochran, in his interview with police, claimed he did not steal the television, but reportedly gave conflicting accounts of certain details. When police asked to take a mouth swab so they could see whether Cochran's DNA was on the television, Cochran refused and requested a lawyer. He was arrested.
The next day, an officer went to a home on East 18th Street to meet with Cochran's sister, who had claimed her rings were stolen. When the officer arrived, he saw the apartment's front door had been kicked in.
Cochran's sister said she was not in her apartment from roughly 6:30 p.m. Friday until 7:30 a.m. Saturday, and upon her return she noticed the door trim was broken. She believed Cochran had broken into her apartment, but evidently didn't take anything.
Police found articles of clothing belonging to Cochran inside the apartment, but no bills in his name or any other personal items. Records did not reflect anything which might have indicated Cochran lived at the home. Rather, Cochran evidently lives at an address on South McKinley.
Cochran, when interviewed, allegedly told police he was living in his sister's apartment, but didn't have many of his belongings there. He admitted to kicking in the locked door.
As for the missing rings, an officer went to Mister Money with a list of jewelry that had been stolen from Cochran's sister. Of items on the list, 11 missing rings were found at Mister Money. They were not on display yet, and were in the back room.
Cochran allegedly gave the rings to the pawn shop in three separate transactions, financed to a total of $219.84. Staff provided three signed statements by Cochran, in which he claimed ownership of the rings.