Man, woman charged in string of armed robberies at Kansas City dollar stores
A man and woman are accused of committing a string of robberies, including armed hold-ups, at several dollar stores across Kansas City this month.
Terry L. Lindsey, 48, is charged with three counts of first-degree robbery, three counts, three counts of armed criminal action and a single count stealing at least $750, Jackson County court records show. Natasha Spotwood, 49, faces several charges of being an accessory to robbery.
The charges stem from five reported robberies at Dollar General and Family Dollar locations between March 14 and March 29.
According to court records, on March 14, around 5:15 p.m., the Dollar General at 8716 Blue Ridge Blvd. was held up by a man with a silver and black handgun who entered the store and demanded money. The store manager told police she recognized the suspect as a regular customer.
The next day around 5:30 p.m. the Dollar General at 4235 Troost Avenue was robbed by a man. He allegedly pointed the gun at a store employee, told her to open the register, took the cash till and ran.
Police responded to three more incidents on March 29.
One was an attempted robbery at the first location near 87th and Troost that had been robbed two weeks earlier. Two more were reported at a Family Dollar at 3901 Indiana Avenue and a Dollar General at 5757 Troost Avenue.
Detectives found surveillance tapes and were given photographs and descriptions of a blue Honda minivan believed to have been used as the getaway vehicle in all of the robberies. Police made contact with Spotwood and Lindsey during an unrelated incident and began investigating them for the string of crimes, records show.
Lindsey was arrested Tuesday as police were conducting a surveillance operation in the 7800 block of E. 91st Street where he was believed to be residing. During a search warrant for the home, police allegedly found several sums of cash amounting to $458. Other items taken as evidence included a black ski mask, gray gloves, sweatpants and sweatshirt.
Lindsey was allegedly identified as the gunman by a witness in one of the store robberies and others who were shown a still photograph of him from a store surveillance camera. Spotwood was identified by police as a driver of the vehicle and allegedly admitted to being an accomplice during a police interview.
Spotwood is being held in the Jackson County jail. Police said in a probable cause statement that after his arrest Lindsey was admitted to a hospital for a medical condition. Jail records did not show that he had been booked there as of Thursday night.
