SUSPECT BECOMES CRIME
VICTIM WITHIN 15 MINUTES

By Jon Mayhew

LINCOLNTON – Authorities are investigating a suspect in a larceny case that became a robbery victim Saturday night.

According to Lincolnton Police Department incident reports, the incident started at a residence on Linden Street around 7 p.m.

The male victim told police that a couple stole a prescription bottle of hyrdocodone from the man’s kitchen table after a third suspect created a ruse by asking the victim if he could rent a room.

The victim went upstairs with the third suspect, according to the report, and showed the suspect a room. Upon returning downstairs, the victim discovered the prescription bottle missing.

About 15 minutes after the first call, officers were called to reports of a robbery in the parking lot of the Times Food Store on Laurel Street.

Store employees told police that a woman entered the store crying, telling them she had been robbed.

When the employees told the woman they were going to call the police, the report indicated she didn’t want authorities called.

The woman left the store before officers arrived on the scene. The suspect in the robbery returned to the store about a half-hour after police arrived, telling them she hadn’t been at the store at all and that there wasn’t a robbery.

Investigators determined the story the suspect was telling them was untrue.

The investigation revealed the suspects from Linden Street and the suspect from Laurel Street were going to perform some kind of exchange but that it didn’t go as planned.

The investigation into the incident is continuing.

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