FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: David Chapman
Phone: (904) 255-3004
Cell: (904) 524-6626
ChapmanD@coj.net
March 18, 2021
COOPER FOUND GUILTY OF ARMED BURGLARY, POSSESSING FIREARM
State Attorney Melissa Nelson today announces that Rashaun Cooper, of Jacksonville, was found guilty by a jury of Armed Burglary and Possession of a Firearm by a Juvenile Delinquent Found to Have Committed a Felony Act. Cooper now faces a maximum of life in Florida State Prison. The Honorable Anthony Salem will schedule a sentencing hearing the week of April 13, 2021.
On June 19, 2018, a vehicle on University Boulevard was burglarized and a firearm and backpack were stolen. Three months later, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office made contact with Cooper for an unrelated arrest warrant. During this interaction, Cooper fled by foot and tried to hide the victim’s pistol in a trash can before he was detained. Cooper had the backpack on him. While being interviewed by police, Cooper admitted to stealing the firearm from the vehicle.
The case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Joel Cooper and Lauren Anderson.