Lang
1/30/21
An Iowa City man accused of stealing lottery tickets during a break-in amidst rioting in Coralville has been given credit for time served.
Online records show 28-year-old Devonte Flowers was given credit for ten days behind bars on Friday after pleading guilty to a 4th Degree Criminal Mischief charge. He was given a deferred judgement on charges of Theft of Lottery Tickets and 3rd Degree Burglary. As part of a plea deal, charges of 2nd Degree Theft, 5th Degree Theft, 2nd Degree Criminal Mischief, 3rd Degree Criminal Mischief, and Trespassing Casing Damage Greater Than $300 were dropped.
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 on surveillance video. Surveillance video also showed Flowers throwing a rock through a window at Tires Plus on 10th Street the same night.
The two incidents 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 under the guise of protesting the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police.
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.
Flowers was arrested the next day at his residence in the Town and Campus Apartments on Arthur Street.
If convicted on all charges, Flowers could have faced a maximum of 19 years in prison.