MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — A man charged in a series of hardware store thefts that took place in 2022 will spend four years in prison.

A judge sentenced Terry Tompkins, 42, of Temple Hills on Oct. 10.

Tompkins, who pleaded guilty to charges in Montgomery County in December 2022, was accused of more than a dozen thefts in five Maryland counties.

In one of the incidents, investigators said Tompkins left Ace Hardware in the 800 block of Wayne Ave. in Silver Spring with a cart full of copper wire and other electric cable items, then attacked a store employee who tried to record Tompkins using a cell phone. Tomkins stole the employee’s phone as he left.

Prosecutors said after he entered his guilty plea in Montgomery County, he committed crimes in other counties while he was out on bond. It was for that reason that the judge said he gave Tompkins a sentence that was at the top of state guidelines.

In addition to the four years Tompkins is to serve, he will be on probation for five years after his release from prison.