Former state Rep. Bruce Hurley pleads guilty to shoplifting candy bars

Former state Bruce Hurley has pleaded guilty in Hawkins County Criminal Court to three counts of misdemeanor theft related to petty shoplifting incidents that occurred last year at the Rogersville Food City and Walmart stores, reports the Kingsport Times-News.

On Nov. 16, 2016, Rogersville Police Department Officer Mark Cook responded to a shoplifting complaint at Food City on E. Main Street, where employee Zeke Littleton identified Hurley, 83, of Rogersville, as the perpetrator.

Littleton stated that around 1:30 p.m. that day Hurley came into the store and concealed a pecan log valued at $3.19 in his front pants pocket. Hurley, who is well-known locally for having served in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1971-89, was not detained by store security and had left the store with the pecan log by the time Cook arrived.

Littleton noted that on the morning of Oct. 30, Hurley had also come into the store and concealed an assortment of chopped pecans valued at $5.99 in his clothing…. “Both thefts were captured on video surveillance.”

…In late November, Walmart store security contacted the Rogersville Police Department and stated that Hurley had stolen a candy bar on one day and then returned the next day and stole two more candy bars. Again, both thefts were caught on store video surveillance.

…Aside from probation and house arrest, Hurley was ordered to pay $150 in fines and $4.02 in restitution to Walmart.

Note: Hurley, a Republican who lived in Surgoinsville at the time he served in the Legislature.