State v. Cooper

Elizabeth B. Mattingly, Judge.

Defendant Tracy Cooper is charged with theft by deception in violation of R.C. 2913.02.

The facts are not in dispute. Defendant went to the Veterans Administration hospital retail store in Cincinnati, Ohio and indicated that she wanted to purchase jewelry and a leather jacket and that she wanted to pay for these items by writing a personal check. When informed that the shop could only accept checks written by employees, she represented that her husband or boyfriend, Eugene Vasser, was an employee who worked in the housekeeping department. She then provided the…