Supposed victim charged as accomplice in armed robbery

ROCK HILL, N.C. — Just hours after a man was charged with armed robbery in Rock Hill, his supposed victim was charged as an accomplice.

Rock Hill police said surveillance video helped clear up what really happened during the early-morning robbery.

On Tuesday, police charged 19-year-old Avery Greenwood with criminal conspiracy and filing a false police report. They said he conspired with 21-year-old Antonio Crawford to rob the Kangaroo Express store on Herlong Avenue.

Only Eyewitness News was there when Greenwood appeared for his bond hearing Tuesday. He's a student at York Technical College who was working part time at the convenience store.

On the surveillance video, Greenwood is at the register when a man walks in pointing a gun at him. Rock Hill police Officer Mark Bollinger said even the beginning of the video looks suspicious.

"The first thing that caught my eye was that the robber came in and then went completely around behind the counter. Most armed robberies, they just go straight up to the front at ask for money," Bollinger said.

On the video, you see Greenwood casually raise his hands when Crawford comes in with a gun. He begins helping the gunman take money from the register, then grabs cigarettes to also give to Crawford, who's crouched down, and not pointing a gun at him at all.

"They both worked on filing the backpack together like they were a team," Bollinger said.

Later, on the video you can see Greenwood walk into an office and shut the door, even though the gunman is still right there behind the counter.

A robber would typically never let a victim out of his sight.

When Greenwood comes out of the office after the robber has left, he walks back and forth, before finally picking up his cellphone to call 911.

When Crawford was arrested Monday, police said he confessed to the crime, and told them that Greenwood was also involved.

On Tuesday afternoon, Crawford was in court pleading guilty to shoplifting and petty larceny for stealing money and cigarettes from a store on Sept. 11.

Crawford told the judge he's guilty, and wanted to make it right.

"As soon as I can get me a job, I was planning on paying everything back," Crawford said.

He was sentenced to 30 days on each charge. However, Crawford faces 25 years in jail if he's convicted of the armed robbery.

Greenwood faces five years in jail and a $5,000 fine on conspiracy charges, and the same for the charge of filing a false police report if he's convicted.

WSOC