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Police: Teen getaway driver in Girl Scout cookie money theft was behind wheel for new theft involving guns and meds
By ELIOT KLEINBERG and SONJA ISGER
Palm Beach Post Staff Writers
Thursday, October 01, 2009
WEST PALM BEACH ? The getaway driver in the infamous 2008 theft of Girl Scout cookie money is charged with a far more treacherous driving role.
Stefanie Woods, now 19, is charged with being behind the wheel in a carjacking and drug-related robbery, authorities say.
Police say they've also arrested her boyfriend and are searching for a third accomplice.
Woods is charged with conspiring to commit armed robbery, false imprisonment and kidnapping.
This morning, Circuit Judge Ted S. Booras ordered her held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Woods, her arms folded behind her, said nothing aloud, speaking only to Assistant Public Defender Jennifer Lancaster.
Assistant State Attorney Lisa Satcher listed Woods' past arrests, including the infamous Girl Scout affair, which Satcher mistakenly described as theft of cookies. But it was enough for the judge.
"Ring a bell? " Satcher asked.
"Yes, I do remember." Booras said.
Woods, then 17, gained infamy in January 2008 for helping a friend steal $168 from 9-year-old Girl Scout Gracie Smith, who was selling cookies outside a Winn-Dixie in suburban Boynton Beach.
Her tangles with the law continued two-and-a-half weeks later, when she and the same friend ordered Grand Slam breakfasts from a Denny's and then walked without paying the $25.84 tab.
Woods later was sentenced to three years in a secure state juvenile facility for the cookie money theft. She also spent three days in the county jail for skipping out on the restaurant bill.
In July 2008, WPEC-TV Channel 12 reported at the time, a judge ordered Woods held on house arrest after an appeals court said authorities could not hold her in a juvenile detention facility while waiting for a bed to open in a drug rehabilitation center.
Woods had told a psychiatrist for a pre-sentencing report that she began drinking at age 14 and used marijuana, cocaine, heroin, Xanax, ecstasy, LSD and OxyContin.
On Wednesday afternoon, according to a Palm Beach Gardens Police report, Quincy Lee Grant, 50, called Woods for a ride home.
Grant told officers he called Woods from a Dunkin Donuts about 4 p.m. Wednesday.
She pulled up and got out of the 2006 Volkswagen Passat for a restroom break, and when she returned, two men got in the back seat, both with semi-automatic handguns drawn, and demanded money.
The men directed Woods to drive to PGA Boulevard.
In transit, they told Grant to strip his pants and stole his two bottles of medication, including 240 Methadone tablets and seven Xanax tablets. They said they would shoot him if he turned around.
The car stopped in the parking lot of the Macy's at the Gardens Mall, when the two gave Grant back his pants and told Woods to keep driving.
Woods later called police from her cell phone at a service station at Interstate 95 and Okeechobee Boulevard to say two men had robbed her, the reports said.
Later when Woods came in to talk to investigators she first told them she was also a victim of unknown robbers who drove with her after leaving Grant for three minutes and then fled on foot.
She said the robbers pointed guns at her and told her to drive or her "pretty little face would get blown off." But the report said detectives found Woods to be too calm for someone who had been a victim of such a violent crime. After detectives pressed her, she confirmed she was in on the scheme.
She claimed she as forced to take part by her boyfriend and his friend, who she knew only as "T".
She also admitted having previously bought drugs from Grant.
A friend of Woods told police Grant was likely set up by Woods' boyfriend Alex Rill, who carries a gun and "probably robbed Grant because he always has medication," the report said.
Rill, also 19, of Palm Beach, was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail around 6 a.m. today.
He is charged with robbery with a firearm, aggravated assault with a firearm, false imprisonment and kidnapping.
Rill is expected to have a bond hearing Friday. He has denied taking part in the incident.
Police said they still are trying to identify and locate the third person in the car.
Grant, the victim, also has had run-ins with the law.
According to Palm Beach County jail records, Grant was arrested at least seven times since 1999, on charges that include burglary of a vehicle, grand theft auto, and check forgery,
Palm Beach Gardens Police asked anyone familiar with the incident to call them at (561) 799-4447, or call Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County at 1-800-458-TIPS (8477).
Police: Teen getaway driver in Girl Scout cookie money theft was behind wheel for new theft involving guns and meds
By ELIOT KLEINBERG and SONJA ISGER
Palm Beach Post Staff Writers
Thursday, October 01, 2009
WEST PALM BEACH ? The getaway driver in the infamous 2008 theft of Girl Scout cookie money is charged with a far more treacherous driving role.
Stefanie Woods, now 19, is charged with being behind the wheel in a carjacking and drug-related robbery, authorities say.
Police say they've also arrested her boyfriend and are searching for a third accomplice.
Woods is charged with conspiring to commit armed robbery, false imprisonment and kidnapping.
This morning, Circuit Judge Ted S. Booras ordered her held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Woods, her arms folded behind her, said nothing aloud, speaking only to Assistant Public Defender Jennifer Lancaster.
Assistant State Attorney Lisa Satcher listed Woods' past arrests, including the infamous Girl Scout affair, which Satcher mistakenly described as theft of cookies. But it was enough for the judge.
"Ring a bell? " Satcher asked.
"Yes, I do remember." Booras said.
Woods, then 17, gained infamy in January 2008 for helping a friend steal $168 from 9-year-old Girl Scout Gracie Smith, who was selling cookies outside a Winn-Dixie in suburban Boynton Beach.
Her tangles with the law continued two-and-a-half weeks later, when she and the same friend ordered Grand Slam breakfasts from a Denny's and then walked without paying the $25.84 tab.
Woods later was sentenced to three years in a secure state juvenile facility for the cookie money theft. She also spent three days in the county jail for skipping out on the restaurant bill.
In July 2008, WPEC-TV Channel 12 reported at the time, a judge ordered Woods held on house arrest after an appeals court said authorities could not hold her in a juvenile detention facility while waiting for a bed to open in a drug rehabilitation center.
Woods had told a psychiatrist for a pre-sentencing report that she began drinking at age 14 and used marijuana, cocaine, heroin, Xanax, ecstasy, LSD and OxyContin.
On Wednesday afternoon, according to a Palm Beach Gardens Police report, Quincy Lee Grant, 50, called Woods for a ride home.
Grant told officers he called Woods from a Dunkin Donuts about 4 p.m. Wednesday.
She pulled up and got out of the 2006 Volkswagen Passat for a restroom break, and when she returned, two men got in the back seat, both with semi-automatic handguns drawn, and demanded money.
The men directed Woods to drive to PGA Boulevard.
In transit, they told Grant to strip his pants and stole his two bottles of medication, including 240 Methadone tablets and seven Xanax tablets. They said they would shoot him if he turned around.
The car stopped in the parking lot of the Macy's at the Gardens Mall, when the two gave Grant back his pants and told Woods to keep driving.
Woods later called police from her cell phone at a service station at Interstate 95 and Okeechobee Boulevard to say two men had robbed her, the reports said.
Later when Woods came in to talk to investigators she first told them she was also a victim of unknown robbers who drove with her after leaving Grant for three minutes and then fled on foot.
She said the robbers pointed guns at her and told her to drive or her "pretty little face would get blown off." But the report said detectives found Woods to be too calm for someone who had been a victim of such a violent crime. After detectives pressed her, she confirmed she was in on the scheme.
She claimed she as forced to take part by her boyfriend and his friend, who she knew only as "T".
She also admitted having previously bought drugs from Grant.
A friend of Woods told police Grant was likely set up by Woods' boyfriend Alex Rill, who carries a gun and "probably robbed Grant because he always has medication," the report said.
Rill, also 19, of Palm Beach, was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail around 6 a.m. today.
He is charged with robbery with a firearm, aggravated assault with a firearm, false imprisonment and kidnapping.
Rill is expected to have a bond hearing Friday. He has denied taking part in the incident.
Police said they still are trying to identify and locate the third person in the car.
Grant, the victim, also has had run-ins with the law.
According to Palm Beach County jail records, Grant was arrested at least seven times since 1999, on charges that include burglary of a vehicle, grand theft auto, and check forgery,
Palm Beach Gardens Police asked anyone familiar with the incident to call them at (561) 799-4447, or call Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County at 1-800-458-TIPS (8477).
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