SPRINGFIELD — The robbery of a post office branch that sparked an intensive search for three suspects Wednesday turned out to be a hoax by an employee and his sister, who were attempting to cover their tracks after stealing the money themselves, police said Thursday.
Springfield police and Bay County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the post office branch in Springfield Plaza, where 20-year-old clerk David Allen Rice Jr. claimed he’d been robbed at gunpoint by a woman and two men. Law enforcement began a store-by-store search for the three non-existent robbers after an employee in a store in the same building reported hearing unusual noises in the ceiling, which led police to believe they might have been hiding in the ceiling.
What actually happened, police said, is Rice took money himself and gave it to his sister, Courtney Diane Goines, 20, who hid the money at their home while Rice called police with the made up robbery report. Police recovered some, perhaps all, of the money at their home at 1117 S. Tyndall Parkway, lot 24, Callaway, on Thursday, said Springfield Police Chief Philip Thorne.
Rice is charged with grand theft and false report to law enforcement, and Goines is charged with grand theft. Rice and Goines were booked into the Bay County Jail Thursday to await their first appearances in court Friday.
Thorne credited the cooperative efforts of his department with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, the United States Postal Inspector’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the swift apprehension of the actual suspects. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are possible.
Thorne said the two are charged in state court at this time. Law enforcement will present the findings of the investigation to the United States Attorney’s Office for a determination on whether Rice and Goines will face federal charges.
An earlier version of this report is posted below:
Two people have been arrested on charges that they fabricated a story about robbers holding up the post office in Springfield, police said today.
A postal clerk and his sister made up the story to cover for the theft that they committed, according to a news release from the Springfield Police.
Arrested were David Allen Rice Jr., 20, and Courtney Diane Goines, 20, who both live on South Tyndall Parkway.
Check later later today for details.