Three women charged in Grandview robbery case in which victims were pepper sprayed

Three women have been charged in connection with an attempted robbery and robbery in which they allegedly used pepper spray in an attempt to incapacitate their targets, Grandview police say.

The women, Tijazala McGrone, Princess Kingyon and Jaquevion Graham-Nelson have each been charged with second-degree robbery and attempted robbery. McGrone and Graham-Nelson are teens. Kingyon is 20.

Sgt. Dean Van Winkle, a spokesman for the Grandview Police Department, said the alleged crimes happened on June 27 in the parking lot of a CVS at 12000 U.S. 71.

During the attempted robbery, the victim was able to lock her doors and prevent the suspects from pepper spraying her or entering her vehicle, Van Winkle said in an earlier release.

During the robbery that same day, two of the women approached another woman as she entered her vehicle and sprayed her with pepper spray before stealing her purse. A third woman drove a vehicle that left the scene.

The victim, Sharon Hall, told KCTV-5 that the pepper spray was “burning hot.”

“I couldn’t open my eyes,” Hall said. “When I did open my eyes, I could get a brief look at something around me. I couldn’t function. I laid on the ground.”

Surveillance footage of the suspects was released by Grandview police shortly after the crimes were committed.

Police received six anonymous tips that led them to the alleged culprits.

A family member told police that the women had confessed to the crimes, according to court records cited by KCTV-5.

The women told the relative they were scared to go to prison for the “Grandview thing.”

This story was originally published December 6, 2017 at 10:02 AM with the headline "Three women charged in Grandview robbery case in which victims were pepper sprayed."