Lang
7/5/20
Coralville Police have made an arrest in the investigation into a tobacco shop break-in during rioting at Coral Ridge Mall last month.
27-year-old Devonte Flowers was booked into the Johnson County Jail just before 6:45 Friday night. Coralville Police say that just before 1:30am on June 1st, Flowers and several other suspects wearing masks entered Smokin’ Joe’s on The Coralville Strip by breaking a window with a large rock. The group then looted the store, taking 56 items totaling $1,589.48 in value, including lottery tickets and liquor. The entire incident was caught of surveillance video.
Flowers was developed as a suspect when he tried exchanging the winning, stolen tickets at an Iowa City Kum & Go on June 10th. Police say he stole 28 tickets totaling $110 in value.
A warrant was issued for Flowers’ arrest on Thursday night. He was arrested the next day at his residence in the Town and Campus Apartments on Arthur Street in Iowa City. He’s charged with 2nd Degree Theft, Theft of Lottery Tickets, 3rd Degree Burglary, 3rd Degree Criminal Mischief, Trespassing Casing Damage Greater Than $300, and 4th Degree Criminal Mischief. The lesser criminal mischief charge comes after surveillance video also showed Flowers throwing a rock through a window at Tires Plus on 10th Street.
If convicted on all charges. Flowers faces a maximum of 19 years in prison.
The break-ins occurred while a large group of people gathered outside Coral Ridge Mall with the intention of breaking into the facility. The group was responding to a social media post encouraging people to loot the mall in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police.