Hephzibah couple stages robbery





Joseph Sapp III

Joseph Sapp III

When police arrived at the Dollar Tree, assistant manager Tonya Sapp was face down behind the counter with both arms stretched out beside her.

The 44-year-old mother “came to” with a little prodding and pointed Waynesboro police officers to the empty safe. Her purse was spilled out around her, and she moved gingerly as if she’d been beaten.

“She told us someone hid in the store, then dragged her by ‘the nap’ of her head from the front door to the safe,” Waynesboro police investigator Bobbie Jockel said, noting the victim’s plastic headband had survived the brutal attack unscathed. “She said he’d slammed her head into the floor over and over.”

It didn’t take long for officers to agree something was amiss.

“Her hair wasn’t even messed up,” Investigator Claude Wade said. Police had been summoned to the Hopkins Corner store around 10 p.m. Wednesday after receiving a panicked call from Joseph Ray Sapp III, the assistant manager’s 28-year-old husband.

Tonya Sapp

Tonya Sapp

He said it was past closing time, and he hadn’t heard from his wife. He told them the front door was open and he feared something was wrong.

Things turned out terribly wrong for the Hephzibah couple when they became prime suspects and investigator Jockel asked to search Mr. Sapp’s truck.

He refused but officers contacted Mr. Sapp’s father, the actual owner, and he consented.

Under the seat was the store’s money bag with $1,508 inside – every penny that had been in the register and safe, the district manager reported. They also found a box filled with 41 different items stolen from the Dollar Tree shelves.

Investigators say both suspects have since given full confessions.

They devised the ruse in hopes of catching up on Mr. Sapp’s truck payments and getting Mrs. Sapp’s truck repaired before their pending divorce became final, investigator Jockel said.

Mrs. Sapp was arrested for theft by taking (felony) and party to a crime. Her husband is charged with party to a crime and false report of a crime.

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