Norfolk Man Sentenced to 5 Years, 8 Months for 2021-2022 Retail Burglaries, Probation Violations
NORFOLK, Va. – Today, 27-year-old Isaiah Malquawn Hopkins was sentenced in Norfolk Circuit Court to an active five years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple counts of burglary and receiving stolen goods from breaking into several businesses across the city between fall 2021 and spring 2022.
On Nov. 11, 2021, around 11:30 p.m. Mr. Hopkins broke into the front door of the Riverview Market convenience store, located at the Shell gas station at 4002 Granby St., and stole a box of lottery scratch tickets. Video footage of the burglary showed a male dressed in all dark clothing, gloves, and a mask shooting a hole in the front door and reaching inside to unlock it before entering, jumping over the cashier’s counter, and absconding with the lottery ticket box. Subsequent videos from 10 other Norfolk stores showed the man cashing in on the lottery tickets several hours later.
Between late April 1, 2022, and early-morning April 2, 2022, Mr. Hopkins burglarized the Ace Hardware located at 3533 Tidewater Drive. He forced entry through the front glass door and stole assorted items. Later, on April 2 around noon, Mr. Hopkins sold three of the stolen items to a Portsmouth pawn shop.
Between late May 26, 2022, and early-morning May 27, 2022, Mr. Hopkins burglarized the Costco Wholesale located at 850 Glenrock Road and stole merchandise including jewelry. Video footage showed Mr. Hopkins entering the store during normal business hours and hiding inside until it closed.
On May 30, 2022, Mr. Hopkins burglarized the Shell gas station located at 7900 Chesapeake Blvd. by smashing the front door glass with a rock and again stole lottery tickets. Norfolk Police officers recognized Mr. Hopkins with bloodied knuckles riding a bicycle away from the scene and arrested him.
Based on their investigation to the second, third and fourth burglaries while he was being held in the Norfolk City Jail, detectives were also able to identify Mr. Hopkins as the man who burglarized the Riverview Market.
On May 31, 2023, Mr. Hopkins pleaded guilty to two counts of counts of statutory burglary and two counts of receiving stolen goods, and Judge Jerrauld C. Jones accepted his plea. On Friday, Judge Jones sentenced Mr. Hopkins to five active years in prison, with an additional five years suspended on the conditions that he be banned from each of the aforementioned locations, be of uniform good behavior, complete an indeterminate period of supervised probation, and pay more than $6,300 in restitution to Costco. Mr. Hopkins was also found in violation of his probation for prior unrelated offenses and was sentenced to eight additional active months in prison.
“Mr. Hopkins broke into multiple businesses, costing their owners time, money, and heartache,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “This sentence will hold Mr. Hopkins accountable. I hope that Mr. Hopkins takes advantage of the resources on probation so that he can become a productive citizen.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Anthony J. Comento prosecuted Mr. Hopkins’ case on behalf of the Commonwealth.
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