aris Man Sentenced To Prison For Flare Gun Robbery
By Shannon McFarlin WENK/WTPR News Director
Paris, Tenn.—A Paris man who tried to rob a local business with a flare gun earlier this summer was sentenced to prison during a hearing Wednesday in Henry County Circuit Court.
Anthony Michael Cooper, age 35, of 301 N. Brewer St., was originally charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated robbery.
He pleaded guilty Wednesday to aggravated robbery and was sentenced to serve 100 percent of an eight-year sentence in state prison. The sentence is to be served consecutively with another sentence he currently is serving for a probation violation.
He was arrested in May following an incident in which he entered Hibbett’s Sporting Goods Store on Mineral Wells Ave. and shot the flare gun at the cash register, causing it to start on fire, and toward the store clerk.
Surveillance photos of Cooper were circulated to the media by the Paris Police, which led to Cooper’s identification.