Thomas Branstetter Sentenced For Taking Items From Thrift Store

A dress wearing Mills man will be spending time behind bars after he admitted that he took items from a thrift store just after the Christmas Holiday.

Thomas Branstetter was sentenced to three and one-half to five and one-half years in prison, after he pleaded guilty to one count of burglary.

Investigators with the Casper Police Department say in late December 2014, officers were called to the Rescued Treasures Thrift Store on the 300 block of North Durbin Street.

At first Branstetter was inside a box truck, then he used a metal rod to break a window and enter the thrift store.

He was trying on women’s clothing and applying makeup when he realized he left his cell phone in the box truck, according to the affidavit.

Later that morning an employee arrived at the store, saw items near the building’s entrance that seemed out of place, and noticed a light on in the bathroom and movement inside.

The employee yelled she was going to call police, but Branstetter confronted her.

He knocked the phone from her hand, pushed her against a wall, and held a fire extinguisher above her head as if he were about to hit her and then fled the building.

Police caught up to Branstetter who was carrying a purse, and wearing a pink dress and black coat but no shoes.

According to a police affidavit, it was also determined that Branstetter was high on meth at the time, and he was walking around the city looking for shelter, when the weather turned cold.