It was a harrowing day for a 77-year-old Forsyth County woman who was kidnapped and robbed by two women Monday.
The ordeal started at about 1:55 p.m. Monday when the 77-year-old woman was walking to her car in the parking lot of the Goodwill located at 715 Atlanta Highway. She was confronted by two women who told her to get into their car or something would happen to her. Once in the vehicle, sheriff’s officials say the suspects told the victim that she needed to withdraw $10,000 from her bank account and they would give her $45,000 in return.
According to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, the suspects drove the victim to her bank, where she withdrew the money but did not say anything to the bank teller as the suspects were watching her, and she was afraid she would be harmed. The suspects took the $10,000 and wrote down the victim’s personal information from her driver’s license as well as her credit card number.
The suspects drove the victim back to the area of Merchant’s Square, where authorities say they gave her an envelope of fake money as she got out of their car.
The elderly woman immediately went to a nearby business to report she had just been robbed. The victim was able to provide Forsyth County deputies with a description of the suspects and the vehicle with a partial tag number.
A deputy located the vehicle on 400 southbound and pulled it over.
The occupants were identified as 51-year-old Cha-Rae Owens of Atlanta and 61-year-old Sharon Sanford of Douglasville. The two suspects were charged with Kidnapping, Exploitation of the Elderly, Theft by Deception, Identity Fraud/Theft, and Forgery 1st Degree. They were transported to the Forsyth County Jail, where they are held on no bond.
Deputies were able to recover the $10,000 of the victim’s money and were able to return it to her.
The sheriff’s office is continuing the investigation, as evidence recovered at the scene indicates these suspects may have been involved in additional thefts or other crimes.
“Criminals don’t care who their victims are, just like FCSO doesn’t care what it takes to bring criminals to justice. If you target our most vulnerable, you can expect to end up just like these two suspects in Forsyth County Jail, likely without bond. I am so proud of the Deputies and Detectives who worked so quickly in this case and allowed us to recover our victims $10K for her and put these suspects exactly where they belong, in Jail. It was indeed excellent police work yet again from our Deputies,” said Sheriff Ron Freeman.
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