BEDFORD – The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office arrested Jon C. Cooper (42 years old of Bedford) on April 20th for several offenses stemming from the stalking and harassment of a juvenile female BNL student.
Officers Robin Compton and Kinsley Duncan launched their investigation after being notified of some concerning posts on Twitter, seemingly directed toward the female. The postings were on a Twitter account, which had a user name associated with Greek mythology. Some of the posts included not only pictures of the juvenile but also of her mother and grandmother from their high school days as well. Other concerning posts had been made as well.
In addition to conducting multiple interviews, a search warrant was executed on Twitter in regard to obtaining the actual name, email, and phone number associated with the account. While waiting for Twitter to comply, officers discovered that the Twitter posts were getting more aggressive and becoming threatening in nature.
On April 18th, these posts met the criteria for officers to obtain an emergency release of the information from Twitter. However, no real name was associated with the account, and the phone number given had no current name. Officers executed a search warrant on the phone carrier and received assistance from the Indiana State Police electronic investigations section.
Late on April 19th, into the morning of April 20th, investigating officers were able to pinpoint the owner of the phone number, along with his address. The number belonged to Cooper. Additionally, once the number was identified, it was learned that a suspicious vehicle had been checked at BNL during a sporting event on April 19th. This car was registered to Cooper and witnesses identified him as being on the school property. Officers were also able to confirm Cooper’s involvement by various other electronic means, as well as identify the background in some of the Twitter photos matching Cooper’s residence.
On April 20th, a search warrant for Cooper’s residence was applied for, obtained, and executed. Officers located Cooper and arrested him. The hours-long search of his residence revealed a plethora of evidence involving not only the stalking of the current juvenile, but also evidence of stalking (including letters, photos, and other items of memorabilia) of multiple BNL high school females dating back to the late 1990’s. The search also uncovered that Cooper was in possession of multiple firearms.
As a result of this investigation, Jon C. Cooper was arrested and incarcerated at the Lawrence County Jail for Stalking (Level 5 Felony), Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), and Harassment (Class B Misdemeanor).
Sheriff Day praised the work of investigating officers.
“Officers Compton and Duncan dedicated several days to this complex and high-tech investigation. Their efforts have resulted in ensuring a young lady can rest a little easier now, while hopefully giving her family a sense of peace. I want to thank all officers and agencies who assisted in this investigation over the course of the last few days.”
Lawrence County officers who assisted Compton and Duncan included Captain Andy Blackburn, Sgt. Mike Williams, Officer Travis Atchison, Detective Captain Jim Slone, Detective Andrea Barnett, Chief Deputy Tony Siedl, and Sheriff Day. BNL School Resource Officer Justin Gilbert and the Indiana State Police electronic investigation section assisted as well.
