Lawrence Walmart robbery lookout gets two years probation

A Douglas County judge Thursday morning sentenced a 21-year-old Lawrence man to two years on probation for serving as a lookout for a robbery at Walmart last December.

District Judge Michael Malone also ordered Andrew Dean Schmutz to spend one year in prison if he’s found to violate terms of his probation.

Schmutz was one of four people charged with serving as lookouts for the Dec. 13 robbery at Walmart, 3300 Iowa. Schmutz pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit robbery, and his wife, Jadin Schmutz, 21, in August pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charge.

One man, William O. Patterson, 19, has pleaded guilty to using a plastic BB gun to rob a clerk at Walmart, and Malone has sentenced him to serve five years in prison. Prosecutors accused Patterson and Lonnie S. Schaefer, 23, of Lawrence, of planning the robbery, and Schaefer faces an aggravated arson charge because prosecutors accuse him of attempting to set a Lawrence McDonald’s restaurant on fire in an attempt to create a diversion for the robbery.

Schaefer has pleaded not guilty and faces an October trial in the case. Malone did order Andrew Schmutz to spend time “shock time” in jail because he was listed in custody Thursday.