Ryan Krull
Yesterday, Elizabeth Cooke was arrested for the car break-in that initiated her viral infamy nine months ago.
The saga of Elizabeth Cooke is over. Maybe.
In August, the 37 year old was interrupted while breaking into a Jeep in Marine Villa. The man who owned the Jeep filmed his confrontation with her. Cooke ran away, leaving her phone behind. The phone contained evidence of a plethora of thefts and burglaries as well as what many believed was evidence that Cooke may have been involved in the suspicious death of 62-year-old Bobby Phillips.
The video of the Jeep owner, who has asked to only be referred to as Jeff, confronting Cooke went viral, leading thousands of online sleuths to gather in Facebook groups trying to get to the bottom of the death of Bobby Phillips.
Yesterday, Cooke was arrested for the car break-in that initiated her viral infamy nine months ago.
Jeff tells the RFT that a St. Louis city police detective contacted him Tuesday evening to say that Cooke had been arrested.
Jeff says that he told the detective he no longer wished to press charges.
"I feel like what I've done to her over the last year is justice enough. I'm satisfied with her infamy," Jeff says in text message to the RFT. "She has her own ballad for Christ's sake."
He adds that his motivation for posting Cooke's photos online was to seek an alternative form of justice.
Jeff says it's his understanding that Cooke will still face incarceration in Illinois because she was on parole in that state but crossed into Missouri.
In August 2021, a few days after Cooke's encounter with Jeff began going viral, she was arrested in Macoupin County, Illinois, for possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of meth and burglary tools. She was released in October and given a sentence of probation and time served.
As of Wednesday morning, the St. Louis City Justice Center inmate locator listed Cooke as detained in the facility.
A documentary about Cooke is in the works, sources familiar with the production tell the RFT.
