Terry Tompkins, 42, was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison followed by five years of probation in connection with multiple robberies at hardware stores last summer.
Tompkins, of Temple Hills, pleaded guilty on Dec. 19, 2022 to one count of robbery and three counts of theft.
According to a spokesperson from the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s office, Tompkins exited Ace Hardware in the 800 block of Wayne Avenue in Silver Spring on July 30, 2022 with a cart full of copper wire and other electric cable products without paying.
He then attacked a store employee who attempted to film him on a cell phone, stealing the employee’s phone as he fled, according to the spokesperson. Tompkins struck the employee, who received minor injuries.
Tompkins then ran around the parking lot and over to the rear of the Silver Spring Civic Center, where he got into a Lexus with a God Bless America bumper sticker, according to the spokesperson.
He was charged in five Maryland counties with more than a dozen thefts from hardware stores during the summer of 2022.
He continued to commit thefts throughout Maryland while he was out on bail in Montgomery County, awaiting sentencing.
