Meridian, Miss. When Meridian police responded to a call that a woman's car had been stolen at gunpoint Tuesday, it didn't take long before they discovered there was more than meets the eye to this armed robbery. A nearby witness told police that the man stole the woman's car while she was attempting to buy drugs from him. And this isn't the first time.
"She within the last three weeks had another incident when she reported being robbed to us," Lt. Griffith says. "That time she went to a house and got robbed at gunpoint there at that house. It was determined that she was there trying to buy drugs on that incident also."
Police quickly recovered the victim's car shortly after it was stolen just a few blocks away from where it was stolen on the 100th block of 29th Avenue, but they haven't yet found the culprit.
Police say despite any wrongdoing on the woman's part, the must continue their investigation as usual, and are working to find the man who stole her car.
"As a police officer, when they come out, we have to look at them as legit because if we don't, then we might miss some that are legit thinking there's something that's more to them," Griffith says. "Most of the time, though, it's going to come out pretty quickly, it'll come out."
Lt. Griffith says they're usually able to discover the truth before alarming the public with crimes like this.
"In these type situations, it's not really a crime of opportunity. It's more of a crime of putting yourself in that situation, so it wouldn't be something that would affect the general public. So typically, these type crimes don't make it out," he says.
Now police are investigating both the armed robbery and the woman's possible drug involvement. But there is not yet enough evidence to charge the victim.