LANCASTER, S.C. — Two people have been charged after deputies say they robbed a store in Lancaster at gunpoint on Monday.
Deputies with the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office were called around noon to a business on Memorial Park Road.
Two employees were in the store and told responding deputies a white female came in wearing sandals, dark shorts and a black hoodie with the hood. The hoodie had a distinctive wide white stripe down each shoulder and sleeve. The female milled around in the store for a brief period before walking up to the counter and handing a cashier a note demanding money,” deputies say.
When the cashier did not immediately respond, the female lifted the bottom of the hoodie to display the handle of what appeared to be a handgun tucked into her waistband, according to deputies. The cashier gave the female money from the register and the female left on foot with the money and the note.
No customers were in the store at the time of the robbery, no shots were fired and no one was injured, Lancaster deputies say.
Kadence Deanna Swindall, age 21, was then determined as a suspect. A black Dodge Durango appeared in the video near the store around the time of the robbery, and Swindall was known to drive a black Durango.
Investigators made contact with Swindall and arranged to meet her at her home. A search warrant was obtained for the property and the Durango, and investigators found the hoodie believed to have been worn by the robber along with three one dollar bills in a bush on the edge of the property. They also found currency hidden in a toilet tank and two pellet pistols in the home. Swindall was detained.
Investigators developed information that led them to conclude that Swindall was the driver and that Alyssa Shiann Putnam, age 18, was the robber. They believe Swindall drove the Durango and dropped Putnam off near the store and circled the block and picked Putnam up after the robbery. The two returned to Swindall’s home, and Putnam fled when investigators made contact with Swindall and indicated they were headed to Swindall’s home.
Swindall was arrested Monday afternoon and transported to the Lancaster County Detention Center, where she was charged with armed robbery. The woman appeared before a magistrate, and bond was denied.
Putnam was also taken into custody and charged with armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.
Anyone with information about this or any other case should call the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office at 803-283-3388.
