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Man arrested after police find car stuffed with stolen boxes of Girl Scout cookies

GSCookies.jpeg
Posted at 5:25 PM, Mar 23, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-23 18:53:35-04

A man is facing charges for allegedly stealing more than $1,200 worth of Girl Scout cookies.

Police in Rochester, Minnesota say a grocery store’s alarm called them Saturday night. When they arrived, they found Joel Whittaker trying to drive off with 23 boxes of cookies stuffed in the backseat and trunk of the car.

Whittaker told officers he was dumpster diving when he found pallets of cookies sitting in an unlocked loading dock.

Investigators believe Whittaker drove up to the unlocked area and began filling his car with as many boxes as would fit and leaving some on the floor.

Although the cookies are packed on the pallets according to flavor, police say Whittaker had taken a mix of flavors.

Police found stolen license plates, bolt cutters, drugs and drug paraphernalia in Whittaker’s car.

He was charged with felony counts of burglary and theft.

Twenty-five boxes of cookies that were removed from the pallets and not opened were turned over to police, and then donated to a Salvation Army Day Center in the area, according to WCCO.