More details on Albany cannabis store robbery

Autumn Monroe Staley, 38, of Albany, is charged with second-degree robbery and first-degree theft, according to court records. She is accused of stealing more than $1,000 from the Going Green Albany store, 1225 S. Commercial Way SE.

On Wednesday, August 14, Albany Police asked for the public’s help in identifying a robbery suspect and circulated images of a woman and her getaway vehicle, believed to be a silver 2016 Chevrolet Equinox.

A woman who saw the photos told police she was “100 percent sure” the suspect was her ex-girlfriend Staley, according to an affidavit.

Going Green employees reported to police that a woman wearing a blue surgical mask entered the store around noon on Wednesday, went to the ladies’ restroom, then approached an employee at the cash register and pointed a gun-shaped object wrapped in a plastic bag at the cashier and another employee.

“The suspect told her to ‘open your drawer and give me all your money – you are going to be robbed,'” the affidavit states.

The cashier handed her $1,082 stuffed into a black floral-print bag that the robber pulled from under her sweatshirt, the affidavit states. The robber then fled the scene in the Equinox and headed west on South Santiam Highway.

After a call for public assistance, APD initially refused to release the name of the victim’s store. Police only provided the approximate location where the crime occurred, said the suspect displayed what store employees believed to be a firearm, and stated that the getaway vehicle’s license plates were obscured.

Police tracked Staley to a home on Pine Meadow Drive Southeast, the affidavit states, where they found a silver 2017 Chevrolet Equinox that matched the description of the suspect’s vehicle and was registered to a woman the informant said is currently dating Staley.

When an investigator confronted Staley with a photo of the robbery suspect, she admitted the photo looked like her, the affidavit states. The owner of the vehicle, Staley’s roommate, also said she was sure the photo was Staley, the document states.

A search warrant for the home turned up more than $800 in cash hidden in a kitchen cabinet and bedroom dresser, the affidavit said. Also found was blue tape similar to that used to cover the license plates of the getaway car and a pair of shoes that matched the robbery suspect’s footwear.

“We would like to thank the community member for identifying the suspect so we were able to quickly make an arrest in this case,” Albany police said in a press release about Staley’s arrest.

Staley was booked into the Linn County Jail on Thursday and arraigned at the Linn County Courthouse that afternoon.

During the court hearing, Staley appeared emotional and cried at times. When asked about her income, she said she was on disability. Dillon Duxbury, the defense attorney prosecuting the case, said Staley is unemployed, a student at Linn-Benton Community College and recently began a mental health treatment program.

Second-degree robbery is a Measure 11 misdemeanor that carries a minimum sentence of five years and 10 months in prison. Judge Rachel Kittson-MaQatish set Staley’s bail at $100,000.

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