CLEARWATER, Fla. — A Florida woman working as an assistant manager at a Dollar Tree is accused of stealing from the store by using her teenage son to stage a robbery.

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In an arrest affidavit, officers with the Clearwater Police Department said that Melisha Ford was supposed to collect all the cash from the Dollar Tree store where she worked after closing and deposit the money at the bank. Police said that on Aug. 13, 14 and 15, Ford collected the money and placed it into the bank money bag, but never delivered the bag to the bank deposit drop.

Police said that Ford repeated the same process on Aug. 19 and 20, despite having a meeting to discuss missing deposits with the store’s district manager and loss prevention, WFLA reported.

On Aug. 21, Clearwater police said that Ford called 911 to report an armed robbery as she was closing the store. In the arrest affidavit, police said that Ford staged the robbery, using her 15-year-old son as the alleged robber. Ford told police that she was leaving the store with the money bag when she was robbed at gunpoint.

Police said that Ford eventually confessed to taking the deposits, which totaled approximately $5,068, and staging the robbery. Officers said the gun involved in the staged robbery was found and determined to be a BB gun.

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