A shop-lifting offense caught on camera has left many Niles community members scratching their heads, not because of the crime in question, but because of the person accused of the offense.
On Friday, the 2013 Berrien County Deputy of the Year was found guilty of third-degree retail fraud in Berrien County Trial Court, after allegedly stealing groceries from Walmart in Niles.
Lt. Trent Babcock, 41, of Niles was found guilty of the misdemeanor by Judge Angela Pasula. He was charged $435 in fines.
Per contract protocol, Babcock was placed on administrative leave, with pay, said Sheriff Paul Bailey.
Babcock will remain on administrative leave until the Berrien County Sheriff ‘s Department finishes conducting its internal investigation.
“When an officer is under investigation they are put on administrative leave,” Bailey said. “We are expecting to wrap up the internal investigation by the end of the week.”
The investigation could determine the conditions of Babcock’s employment, including whether or not he could remain on the force.
Babcock has served the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department for more than a dozen years.
At Bailey’s request, the Allegan County Sheriff’s Department authorities were contacted to conduct the criminal side of the investigation, Bailey said.
According to the Allegan County police report the shoplifting incident occurred shortly before 9 a.m. on Feb. 7 at the Walmart, located at 2107 S. 11th St., in Niles.
Video surveillance was reported to have caught Babcock loading a shopping cart with groceries. Footage showed him placing several groceries in a blue plastic tote, stashing other groceries in two black bags. The report approximates that he stole $184 worth of groceries from the store.
Babcock then exited through a closed checkout aisle without paying for the items.
On Feb. 8, an asset protection manager confronted Babcock, who confessed to stealing the groceries without paying for them.
That same day, Babcock returned $172 worth of the unused groceries to Detective/Lt. Greg Sanders at the Berrien County Sheriff Department, the report stated.
Babcock was contacted for comment and said he was heading to meet with the sheriff. At this time, Babcock said he could not share any information. Babcock’s attorney, Brett Naumcheff, could not be reached for comment.
A third-degree shop lifting offense is the lowest in the spectrum of shop lifting crimes, with the most severe being value of more than $1,000 stolen. Shop lifting crimes for under $200 are misdemeanors, according to Berrien County Prosecuting Attorney Michael Sepic.
Sepic said his office handled the case and while it was uncomfortable, there were no conflicts of interest. In the 28 years that he has been a prosecutor, Sepic said he has interacted with Babcock, but never worked on a specific case with him before.
“Just to kind of give you some depth, a conflict of interest has some very specific dynamics and ‘awkward’ is not one of them,” Sepic said.