A planned armed robbery at a liquor store in Inverness, Florida, allegedly fell apart after security footage showed the shop assistant laughing as a man wearing a Michael Myers mask carried out the raid, authorities said.
Renee Lynn Bedford, 46, and Richard Benson Lassiter, 47, were arrested after investigators concluded that the robbery at Citrus Liquor had been staged, according to the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were called to the store on US Highway 41 South on Sunday, 20 September, after Bedford reported that a masked man had entered, demanded money and escaped on foot.
She initially described the suspect as a black man in his thirties wearing the distinctive mask from the Halloween horror films. But detectives reviewing the shop’s CCTV footage quickly identified discrepancies in her account.
The video appeared to show Bedford laughing during the incident rather than reacting with fear. It also showed that the masked robber was a white man, contradicting the description given to deputies.
Michael Myers mask robbery investigation
A tip submitted to Citrus County Crime Stoppers then led investigators to Lassiter. During an interview on Tuesday, 22 September, he allegedly told deputies that Bedford had proposed the robbery and supplied information about the shop’s cameras and cash-deposit arrangements.
Detectives later returned to the store to speak to Bedford. She appeared nervous and denied any involvement in planning the crime, investigators said, but deputies said they had established probable cause to arrest her.
Plastic bags containing suspected narcotics were allegedly found in Bedford’s pocket as she was taken into custody.
Bedford has been charged with being a principal to armed robbery and grand theft, as well as possession of fentanyl, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Lassiter faces charges of robbery with a firearm and grand theft.
Captain Mat Baird, of the sheriff’s office’s Criminal Investigations Division, said the case demonstrated the importance of examining evidence closely.
“The suspect’s mask may have hidden his face, but our detectives quickly recognised the inconsistencies in this case and exposed an inside job disguised as a robbery,” he said.
