Crime & Punishment: Mike’s Country Store owner sees every kind of theft

Editor’s Note: Part of an ongoing series on crime, law enforcement and the criminal justice system in Albany.

ALBANY — Mike Rogers has resigned himself to the reality of business in modern-day America, even small-town America: If you have a business, people are going to steal from you.

Rogers has turned the family-owned Mike’s Country Store into a southwest Georgia grocery presence that rivals many of the chain grocers operating in the region. In a short amount of time, Rogers has expanded his holdings from a flagship store in Lee County to five Mike’s: including two in Dougherty County (one on Gillionville Road and one on U.S. 19 in Putney), one in Colquitt and one in Moultrie.

Mike’s was in the news recently when a man who passes himself off as a pastor, Timothy Sherrod of Leesburg, was caught stealing four bags of ox tails, which sell for $79.99 each. Sherrod was captured when Rogers used video footage and offered a reward for information that led to the accused culprit’s arrest.

“The next day after we announced the reward, a man called and said he knew who (the thief) was,” Rogers said. “He asked what the reward was, and when I told him ‘$100 and a box of leg quarters,’ he gave me the man’s name, address and phone number.”

Sherrod, according to witness statements, simply walked into the Gillionville Road Mike’s, picked up two bags of ox tails in each hand, and nonchalantly walked out the door. That brazen theft, Rogers said, is only a part of what he’s seen in his stores.

“If you can think of ways that a business can be robbed, we’ve had it happen,” he said. “We had a cashier (at the Gillionville location) who was sliding groceries across the counter without actually scanning them and putting them in the bag for her daughter. A bag boy saw it, so we pulled the (video) tape. Sure enough, that’s what was happening.

“I called her in and asked her if she wanted to tell me what she was doing or if she wanted me to show her (on video) what she was doing. She confessed, but I told her, ‘Well, you’ll get to see it on video when the cops get here.’”

Then there was the employee who, Rogers said, over the course of several months dropped some $4,000 worth of meat into an area that was not visible on surveillance cameras and picked it up — or had an accomplice pick it up — later.

“He was getting top-of-the line meat, ribeyes, fillets,” Rogers said. “We finally caught him and he was picked up by the Lee County sheriff.”

Rogers said he’s taking additional measures to beef up security in his stores. He’s contracted with the Stop Lift company to have surveillance footage pored over at the end of each month, looking for culprits involved in criminal activity.

“From what I’ve seen, law enforcement can be a circus,” the businessman said. “Plus, all these folks that we’re talking about, I pretty much bet you that all of them are out walking the streets right now. (Sherrod) had a rap sheet a mile long, but he keeps getting turned loose and he keeps doing the same thing. I got a call from (an employee of another retailer) who told me this guy regularly did the same thing in their store, but he’s always turned loose.

“It’s a shame that it’s come to this, but part of the job description at our stores is going to be for our employees to keep watch. Heck, there’s no telling how much stuff gets stolen in the store: You’ll find half a Mountain Dew that someone opened and left on a shelf, or you’ll see where people have grabbed a handful of grapes or a peach and eaten them in the store. We’re just going to have to do a better job of looking out for these kinds of things. It’s sad, but it’s true.”

Staff Photo: Carlton FletcherStaff Photo: Carlton Fletcher

Staff Photo: Carlton Fletcher

Staff Photo: Carlton Fletcher