37-year-old Melisha Ford, of Clearwater, Florida, was employed as an assistant manager at a Dollar Tree. She is now accused of stealing from her place of employment and getting her son to stage a robbery.
Court documents show that it was Ford’s job to gather all the cash from the Dollar Tree location after closing. She was then supposed to deposit the money in the bank.
Authorities say that on August 13, 14, and 15, Ford gathered all the funds and put them in a money bag. However, she never deposited the money.
Ford had a meeting with the district manager and loss prevention to talk about the missing money. However, on August 19 and 20, she continued with the deceptive behavior.
On August 21, Ford is said to have contacted 911 to state that she had been robbed while she was closing the store.
Courts records read that Ford set up the robbery, getting her 15-year-old son to be the said robber. She told police that she had been exiting out of the store, with the money bag, when she was robbed at gunpoint.
Officials say that Ford later admitted to stealing the deposits, which amounted to $5,068, and setting up the robbery.
The weapon used in the staged incident was determined to be a BB gun.
Ford was apprehended and charged with scheme to defraud and false report of a crime.
