Hunter
04/28/26
An Iowa City man was arrested after an investigation determined he stole money from a convenience store.
The crime was discovered the morning of August 10th, when the owners of Up In Smoke Liquor and Tobacco on Broadway Street found over $5100 missing from the deposit bag behind the counter. A review of surveillance video allegedly showed the store was burglarized just after 1:30am that morning while the store was closed.
The video showed a thin male dressed in dark clothing using a key to unlock the front door and enter the business. Once inside, he reportedly went straight to the deposit bag and took the cash. He then left the store just over a minute after entering, and fled south toward the apartment complexes on the 2000 block of Broadway Street.
The only other person who had a key to the business was the employee who closed the store the night of the burglary. A search warrant was obtained and executed at the employee’s Broadway Street apartment on August 15th 2025. They found 22-year-old Isaiah Scott, who had been staying with the store employee for several weeks. He allegedly was wearing the same pants seen in the surveillance video the night of the burglary, with other items of clothing from the incident found among his property in the living room.
Scott allegedly admitted to committing the burglary, stealing the employee’s key to get in. He also reportedly said he knew where the deposit bag was kept from previous visits to the store to see his roommate.
Warrants were issued September 22nd; Scott was arrested Sunday and charged with 2nd degree Theft and 3rd degree Burglary. If convicted on both counts, Scott could be sentenced to up to ten years in prison.