PRINCETON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Woman fakes robbery incident while working a produce stand, later admitting she took the money herself.
On August 8, 2024, at approximately 3:50 PM, Captain Woodard, Lieutenants Halsey and Combs, Detective Severt, and Officers Shrewsbury, Charette, Jones, and Cook responded to a reported robbery on Stafford Drive and Trent Street in Princeton, West Virginia. The complainant, Tiffany Sparks, stated that a man in a black shirt and pants had threatened her with a knife and demanded cash from the produce stand where she worked.
Officers searched the area, with K9 Kilo tracking the suspect’s path and Lieutenants Combs and Severt reviewing nearby security camera footage. The footage from the Commission on Aging business showed a man matching Sparks’ description, but she did not identify him as the suspect. Severt also reviewed footage from the nearby tobacco store, which did not show anyone running from the scene.
When confronted with the lack of evidence, Sparks admitted that she had not been robbed. She had instead taken $246 from the produce stand’s register. Sparks was then arrested for filing a false police report, embezzlement, and obstructing an officer. It was noted that the produce stand’s register had started the day with $175.
