Minnesota Man Caught with Hand in Girl Scouts’ Cookie Jar

A Minnesota man is charged with allegedly stealing more than $1200 worth of Girl Scout cookies from a loading dock in Rochester -- leaving even the Cookie Monster shaking his head.

According to a story on WCCO-TV's website, 43 year-old Joel Whittaker of Oronoco says he saw the cookies on pallets behind a partially open loading dock door while dumpster diving in the area. Investigators say Whittaker puled up his car and began loading twenty-three cases of Girl Scout cookies into the vehicle.

Whitaker is charged with third degree burglary and felony theft in the alleged cookie heist.

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The Cookie Monster is famous for singing 'C is for Cookie.' C is for cookie, that's good enough for me. C is for cookie that's good enough for me. But apparently it also stands for 'Crime' and 'Caught Red-Handed.'

Girl Scout cookie sales help power the growth and empowerment of the girls and their troops across the country. This year's featured cookies include Toast-Yays, Thin Mints, Lemon-Ups, Lemonades, Shortbread Trefoils, Caramel Delites, Do-Si-Dos, Caramel Chocolate Chip, Tagalongs(gluten-free), Toffee-tastic (gluten-free), and Girl Scout Smores.

2021 will mark the final year of the Girl Scout Smores cookie, after being introduced back in 2018.

Also new for 2021 is the availability for cookie delivery in select locations, as the Girl Scouts have treated with the food delivery service GrubHub -- even offering same-day delivery in some situations.

The sale of the famous cookies to fund the activities of the Girl Scouts is said to have begun as early as 1917 -- that' more than 100 years of baking!