Father Fakes Home Invasion to Cover up Stealing Daughter’s Girl Scout Cookie Profits

A young Oregon Girl Scout was tasked with a simple plan: sell the signature cookies to raise funds for the organization. While she managed to make over $700 for the club, her father had plans of his own.

Global News reports that 40-year-old Brian Couture, the scout’s dad, called the police to report that the money went missing after a home invasion. He was later arrested after admitting to plotting the elaborate scheme to cover up the missing money.

It all goes back to Mar. 9, when Couture placed a 911 call to report that an individual had broken into his house and an altercation ensued, ultimately ending with the perpatrator taking off. In response, police dispatched a K-9 unit, as a full-blown hunt for the suspect was underway.

The investigation instilled a widespread anxiety among the Forest Grove, Oregon residents. A local resident described the scene to KGW8. “There were cops from all over, dogs, the forensic team, they had crime tape up everywhere,” the resident said.

However, investigators found no evidence of a home invasion, and arrested Couture instead. In a statement, authorities said that he “admitted to Forest Grove Police investigators that the alleged incident was staged,” and that he did so to “conceal the theft of money belonging to a non-profit organization, that was spent inappropriately.” He is being charged with falsifying a police report and theft.

This marks the second case this year that a Girl Scout Cookie-connected individual ended up in handcuffs. Back in February, after the viral story broke of a man buying $540 worth of cookies to save a group of Girl Scouts from the cold, he was arrested on federal drug charges.