LANCASTER ROBBERY ARREST: Deputies say SC woman accused in December robbery hit 3 more businesses while out on bond

LANCASTER, S.C. — The Lancaster County Sheriff's Office says a woman accused of robbing a store in December robbed - or tried to rob - three more businesses Monday night while free on bond.

Deputies say 25-year-old Jessica Medlin Talford came into a store on Monroe Highway around 10:30 p.m. and demanded money. She had one of her hands covered and appeared to be holding a handgun. She left the store with cash and drove away in a maroon sedan.

About the same time, the owner of the Lancaster Inn on Charlotte Highway reported a woman came in with part of her face covered, pointed an object in her hand covered with black fabric at him, and demanded all the money. The owner refused and told her he was calling the police. Surveillance video showed a white female in a black dress driving a maroon four-door sedan.

The Lancaster Police Department also investigated a similar incident at Westgate Exxon on West Meeting Street in the city.

Deputies finally caught up with Talford just before midnight at a gas station on South Main Street in Lancaster before any crime was committed there.

"It is a good thing we found Talford soon after these robberies occurred. It is anybody’s guess how many other businesses she might have visited had she not been arrested so quickly. We are glad no one was injured. I appreciate the assistance we got from the Lancaster Police Department. Our mutual help allowed both agencies to close three robberies in short order," said Sheriff Barry Faile.

PREVIOUS ARREST

In December, Medlin was charged with the armed robbery of the Twin Pines Convenience Store and Grill on Charlotte Highway in Lancaster.

Surveillance video from that holdup showed the robber wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants and black shoes.

Investigators said they later determined that the robber had a metal pipe in her hand, which protruded from her sweatshirt sleeve. After posting the pictures from the robbery on Facebook, deputies got a tip about the woman’s identity. Within an hour, a deputy found Medlin and her car at a laundromat on Arch Street and arrested her.

Authorities said she was wearing the same clothes that she was seen wearing in the convenience store surveillance video.

Medlin has been booked into the Lancaster County Detention Center again, officials said.

Anyone with information about this or any other case should call the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office at 803-283-3388 or contact Midlands Crimestoppers in one of the following ways: dial 888-CRIME-SC (888-274-6372), log onto www.midlandscrimestoppers.com and click on the "Submit a Tip" tab, or download the P3 Tips App for Apple or Android devices.

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