Part 60
Julie Allard, CEO, Divine Crisis Management Group
Julie straightened up, the lines across her hips from the edge of the desk beginning to itch now that they were free. Bill collapsed back in his chair, opening a desk drawer to produce a box of tissues. He pulled a handful out to clean himself with.
"That was good," Julie purred, her knees shaking as she waited for Bill to finish so she could sit on his lap. Bill crumbled up the tissues and she plopped down. "Mmm, this is good, too," she said, leaning back against him.
"We could stay just like this for a while," Bill suggested.
"I wish," Julie said. "I'm going to start leaking soon... And we need to clean your desk." Bill leaned around her, seeing the mess on his desk. He chuckled. "I have to admit, I like the fact that I never have to worry about you faking it."
Julie snorted, then leaned against him.
"You gave me a funny look earlier," she said. "When the guys from the Army were here."
"Well, in my defense, a naked, beautiful woman stood up from under my desk while I was trying to talk shop with an old buddy of mine."
"Mmmhmm," Julie said. "It didn't have anything to do with the... Details of said naked woman?"
Bill looked at her. He reached forward, wiped a finger through the cooling bodily fluids on the desk and stuck it in his mouth.
"That only proves you're a pervert," Julie said with feigned primness.
"I'll drink it straight from the tap, then," Bill said, seizing her hips and plopping her on the desk. Julie squealed. "Not so soon, you ass!" Bill grinned at her.
"You'll make me giggle like a little girl," Julie tried to pout as she said it, but she couldn't stop grinning back at him.
"That only makes it more appealing," Bill said. Julie crossed her legs. "No! We can do that later. I need to go call in the rest of the guys your friend needed, anyways."
Bill glanced over at the potted plant with a small pile of fabric behind it. "Your clothes are over there," he said.
Julie finally managed to pout. "You're not going to get them for me?"
Bill eyed her legs. "Not as long as you've got that ass, no. I will never pick anything up off the floor for you."
Julie chuckled and stood, walking over to the plant and retrieving her clothes. She quickly dressed and arranged herself so as to minimize the evidence of a desktop tryst.
"How do I look?" she asked, turning for Bill's inspection.
"Harried," he said. "Which tracks with what's been going on. Also amazing, but that's par for the course."
She walked over as he finished buckling his own pants to kiss him. "I'll be back if I can. If not, I'll see you after work."
She turned to leave, but stopped when she heard Bill's voice. "Julie," he said. He sounded concerned. She turned to find him frowning.
"What is it?" His look worried her.
"It's Jerry," he said. "I think you might be too harsh on him."
Julie sighed. She tamped down on the twisting in her guts at his words and reminded herself that she needed to be objective.
"Explain," she said, her voice much colder than she intended.
"Julie," he said. "Haven't you noticed that virtually everyone who knows him has stood up for him? I mean, I know that the stuff Dylan told you sounds bad, and I know that you confirmed it. Hell, I know that him going rogue again looks bad... But there's got to be a reason so many people support him."
"He's nice to everyone he meets," Julie said. She had intended to go on, but she caught herself. She was making excuses. She was about to claim that the most awkward, easily-embarrassed wallflower of a man she'd ever met had simply charmed everyone else. And she damn well knew that wasn't the case. Sure, he could turn on an aura that would make women -and presumably gay men- go wild for him, but she was fairly certain he hadn't done so in years. He was self-conscious about even discussing the last time he had, even though she knew he'd had his memories erased at the time and was acting out of character, thanks to some kind of magical illness.
"I'll think about it, Bill," she said, her voice much softer.
"That's all I'm asking," he said. "And I'll support you, whatever decisions you come to."
She smiled at him. That part, she had no trouble believing.
"I'll see you later," she said.
"L- I mean, later, beautiful," he replied. His face twisted a little, but quickly returned to normal. Julie left, wondering what that look was about.
----
Julie went to the bathroom first. When she was done, she went to her office and sent out the emails to recall the men for the Army. She had just gotten those sent when she sensed a presence and looked up to find a woman sitting in the chair in front of her desk.
"Hello," Julie said, surprised.
"Hi," the woman responded. She wore a nice dress suit, much like Julie's own, except the woman still had her jacket on and buttoned. She had fair features and black hair with a red stripe in it.
"Can I help you?" Julie asked.
"No," the woman said.
They sat there for a moment, Julie edging a finger closer to the alarm rune on the underside of her desk.
"I'm here to help you," the woman said at length. There was something about her voice that seemed familiar, but Julie couldn't place it.
"Okay," Julie responded. "Can you explain how?"
"Yes. Listen to Bill about Jerry," the woman said. She leaned forward and the sense of vague familiarity hit Julie again. She was certain she knew this woman from somewhere.
"What did Bill say about Jerry?" Julie asked, carefully choosing her words to avoid any accidental admissions.
"That you're being too harsh on him," the woman said. She leaned forward some more, putting her elbows on her knees.
"Bill's right. You see, Bill is a very confident man. He's aware that other men might be better in bed, or better fighters, or better at their jobs than him. He doesn't really care. You pushing away Jerry isn't going to make him feel more secure in your relationship. He's not worried about you leaving him to return to the arrangement you had with Jerry and his wife. He knows you well enough to know you wouldn't want that. Being a fifth wheel, I mean."
Julie gasped as the recognition suddenly crystalized. "Jane," she breathed. Jane flashed her a tight smile and a little nod. "more or less," she said cryptically. Julie took that to mean this was an avatar.
"What can you tell me about everything that's happened?" Julie asked.
"Well, General Stanley's fears are justified, so don't hold back aiding him. Some of the gods are dissenting. A few will sit out the upcoming conflict. A few will side with humanity. A few more will side specifically with Jerry. In fact, they already have. Unfortunately, those who've sided with Jerry are probably not going to help us in this fight."
"And why? Why are they turning on us?"
"Because they're afraid of you. You have power now, and Jerry worked out a way to kill a god. They know if he can do it, another human can, as well. Some of the work your wizards are doing is shockingly close to what Jerry did. Most of them have turned against him, though not all. But in doing so, many have turned against humanity as a whole. They don't plan to let you have back the army you've sent to assist them. Most of them think that will be a serious blow to your might. They don't know it's just a small part of one army among many. And when they learn that, well... They're not going to grow any less afraid of you, that's for sure."
"You make it out like the gods are a bunch of cowards," Julie said. Jane chuckled and nodded, crossing her arms.
"They are. They're scared of Jerry, scared of Sarisa, scared of you, scared of me and Yarm. Mostly me, but still. They'd be afraid of their own shadow, if they didn't know better. The gods have spent thousands of years being immortal and invincible. Only one god has ever truly died, and that was a massive fluke. They've never been given the chance to develop any courage. They're experiencing a threat for the first time ever, so their reaction is to attack everything until there's nothing left to threaten them."
"Except Yarm," Julie said. Jane nodded. "Except Yarm. And you can guess where he stands."
Yarm would stand with Jerry, no doubt. Julie knew that the two of them were as close as they could be without becoming lovers. "And what about Jerry?" she asked.
"Jerry is doing exactly what he needs to be doing right now. For himself, and for everyone else."
Julie nodded, taking that in. "And you? Where do you sit in this fight?"
Jane shrugged. "I was human until a few years ago. Old loyalties die hard."
Julie leaned back in her chair, relieved.
Jane stood. "I have to go. I have a lot on my plate, lately. There's no certainty, but I want you to know that things are on the right track, so far. As long as Sarisa doesn't have any more tricks up her sleeve, everything's going to work out."
"And if she does?" Julie asked, rising as well.
Jane shrugged again, making a sort of sneer that Julie recognized as a suppressed wince. "Then we'll either adapt or lose."
"And what happens if we lose?"
"The destruction of all the gods and the extinction of humanity. At least in this world."
"So, no pressure," Julie drawled. Jane grinned. "No pressure," she said. She turned to the door and opened it, then paused.
"Oh, one more thing..." She met Julie's eyes.
"Tell Bill that you're in love with him. He's been itching for 'the right time' to tell you, but you know how men are about that kind of stuff."
Julie gaped at the goddess as she left with a wink. A moment later, she returned to her computer and began typing more emails. She had a feeling that pulling out all the stops might be appropriate.
----
Command Sergeant Major Eric Hale, 5th Special Forces Group
"The president will see you now, Sergeant," the marine guard said. Hale stood and walked in. Hale walked into the conference room to find the POTUS and a Navy Admiral shaking hands.
"Thank you, Fred," the President said. The Admiral nodded and walked out as Hale snapped to attention and saluted his Commander in Chief.
"Knock it off," the President told him, pulling out a chair, and then walking around the table to take one opposite. "Take a seat. I've been on my feet all day."
"Thank you, sir," Hale said as he sat down and scooted his chair in.
"I'm told you have a message for me from General Stanley."
Hale nodded. "Yes, sir. I was to give you his message verbatim. It goes as follows: 'Sir, if this shit goes down and we don't throw everything we have at it in one big mass, right off the bat, I do not think we will survive'. End of message."
The President nodded.
"I expected this, you know," he said. "The folks from the DCM -including that guy from the television show and the woman who produces it- were fairly apocalyptic in their description of events."
The President heaved a big sigh. "That was Admiral Strang. He happened to be in the building, so he personally reported to me that the second and third battalion of the Tenth Special Forces just arrived stateside on naval flights. They're preparing to be deployed as we speak."
"Sir, with all due respect, I think we're going to need more than just two more battalions of quiet professionals. We're going to need a complete mobilization. I just came from the DCM, and they promised me a hundred wizards and over four hundred shooters with magic gear. I think we're going to need more, sir. A lot more."
"A total war footing," the President said. "That's what you're talking about. A return to a World-War-Two era economy."
"Sir, I couldn't speak to economic concerns, but I have the upmost faith in the General's judgement."
"You and me both, Sergeant," the President said with a sigh. He sighed again a moment later.
"Okay, Sergeant. My break is over, I need to get moving. You can tell the General I'm doing everything I can. If you want to return to the waiting room, I'll send a Marine to escort you to the helipad and you can take the chopper over to Fort Carson. I'll send instructions for Colonels Macy and Gibbs to follow your lead."
"Thank you, sir," Hale said, standing up. He snapped another salute, but the President stuck out his hand.
"Thank you, Sergeant. You and every single one of the men out there right now, and all of those heading there today and in the future. Your service is an inspiration to all of us. I know you hear empty platitudes from politicians all the time, but I want to personally assure you that I mean it."
"You served yourself, sir," Hale said, shaking the President's hand.
"I did. In Afghanistan. It seems like forever ago."
"Then thank you, Mister President," Hale said. The President laughed.
"Yeah, thank me, too. Go on. I'm a busy man, Sergeant."
Hale hurried out, back to the waiting room. He had barely sat down before a Marine Gunnery Sergeant walked into the room. "Sergeant Hale?" he asked.
Hale stood. "This way, si- Sergeant," the Marine said.
"Do I have to say it, Gunny?" Hale asked.
"Nope," the Marine responded. "I'm kicking myself already."
----
President James Carter
James' staff met him as he left the conference room. "Okay," he asked Marcy, to his left. "Who's next?"
"Director Stillman, sir," she said. James sighed with relief. "Good. Hopefully he's got some good news for us."
He followed Marcy through the halls, to one of the secured meeting rooms. Inside, he found Frank Stillman, Director of Central Intelligence.
"Frank, please tell me you've got good news," James said as he shook his old friend's hand.
"Well, that depends on what you need the news for. Word is that we're going to war. Like World War Three. Is that true?"
"Jesus, you guys work fast," James breathed. "I literally just came from hearing about it."
"Ways and means, sir," Frank said. James chuckled ruefully.
"So yeah, I wanted to know about project Hoplite."
"Hoplite is ahead of schedule. We can field the first cadre, already. The second will be ready in a month."
"Good. What about project, uh..." James snapped his fingers. "Project Merlos, sir?"
"Yes, I could never remember that name. We should have just called it 'Merlin'. Or maybe 'Gandalf'."
"We almost called it Project Dresden, sir, but we've had one of those already."
"I don't even want to know. So how far along is Merlos?"
"We have four cadres ready right now. That's about three hundred and sixty men."
"That'll be a big help. How fast can they get organized?"
"They're prepping now, sir. They'll be ready to go within the hour. I had planned to have them travel ahead."
"Good, good. And you know I have to ask about the last one."
Frank's face split into a grin. "Project Tarragon, sir."
"That's the one."
Frank's grin grew wider. "Six," he said. James' jaw dropped. "Six?!"
"Yes, sir. Ready to go right this instant."
"Shit, the NRF riders must be fast learners."
"There's a sort of bonding that happens. By training the riders first, we can have another two ready two months from the next hatch."
"You look pretty pleased with yourself," James noted. Frank winked. "I am, sir. These projects have been my baby for the past few years. Having them come to fruition right as they're needed, well... I'm eager to see them in action."
"Don't be too eager. I'm told that if we don't win this one, we go extinct."
"Extinction has shades of gray, sir. If things get too bad, well, we've got a plan for that, too."
"Oh?" James quirked an eyebrow at him. "Do tell."
"Well, sir. You see, me and Jerry go way back. I was his boss when he worked for the Agency."
"I'm aware," James said. Frank smiled.
"Well, he and I got on quite well. So well, in fact, that neither of us wanted to end our professional relationship when he left for the private sector. As a result, we've been in touch about important matters. The last thing he contacted me about was a sort of extra dimensional bunker, set up by the gods to preserve humanity in the event of some extinction-level event. Except the gods don't really seem to know about it. Well, except one, and I've been given assurances that she's sympathetic to our cause."
"Well, that does sound useful."
Frank's smile turned into a grin that split his face from ear to ear. "We've also taken the liberty of adding some extra defenses, sir. If we can hold out for two more months, in addition to the two new Tarragon pairs, I can provide you with a bunker from which any continuing war effort can be directed in perfect safety."
"Well, shit, don't let me keep you, then. Have your project's soldiers travel to the other side as quickly as possible, and report their capabilities and needs to General Stanley."
"Right away, sir."
Frank walked out without another word. A very efficient man, that one, James thought. He stepped outside to find Marcy and the others waiting.
"Next?" he said with a sigh.
----
Bill Martin, All in All, Having a Pretty Good Day
Bill finished up the rest of his work and shut down his computer. Eric was as set as he could be. Gear for a thousand DCM security agents was being shipped to the Army camp, and hundreds of wizards and security agents (with their own gear, of course) were heading there as well, some already moving, others heading out in the days to come.
He stretched his back and then angled his desk lamp to be sure he'd cleaned up the mess from earlier. As he nodded to himself in satisfaction, he heard the door opening and looked up. Julie was there, her shirt half-unbuttoned and her hair a bit more of a mess than he remembered leaving it in.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"Yes, just..." She sighed. "It's been a long day."
"I rather enjoyed lunch," Bill said. "Though I'm still hungry, for some reason..." Julie smiled at him.
"You know, there's probably no-one left in the office who might come knocking..." Bill said, suggestively.
"I know," Julie said, indicating her shirt. "But before we get to that, I need you to do something. In a professional capacity, I mean."
Bill's eager grin faded, replaced by his business expression, which some people tended to find intimidating for some reason. He scratched one heavily cauliflowered ear and idly wondered why as he waited for Julie to go on. For her part, she seemed reluctant to say it.
Finally, she worked up the nerve. "I want you to take a team. Six security, six wizards. The best, even if you have to recall them from the other side. I mean, the best we have. Take them and go find Jerry, and assist him with whatever he needs. Here," she reached into the pocket of the jacket slung over one arm and produced a compass.
"What's this?" Bill asked, accepting the compass.
"It will lead you directly to him. He gave it to me once, in case..."
"In case you needed to get laid?" Bill asked, his expression still all business. "I'm sorry, that sounded bitter. I mean, I don't understand why you'd need to find him."
"In case I needed to have him killed," Julie blurted out. "He made it and gave it to me. I think he made a few and gave them to the people he trusted."
"And he trusted you with one," Bill said. Julie winced.
"I'm not jealous," Bill said.
"What?" Julie asked.
"I'm not jealous, I said. I know you two used to have some kind of a thing going, and I know he's probably some kind of inhuman lover. But I can live with the fact that you were his sidepiece for a while."
Julie winced again.
"Sorry," Bill said. "My mouth is bad at translating what's in my head sometimes. I just mean to say that I've never had a problem with you and him working together, or even being friends. I know there wasn't any... Romance there."
"Are you... Is there romance here?" Julie asked him in a quiet voice.
"I sure as shit hope so, or I'm in for a really bad time," Bill said. He wanted to say something else, but it was hard to just jump to that.
Julie giggled.
"What?" Bill asked.
"Nothing, it was just something someone said to me earlier today."
She stepped forward, her body pressed to his and kissed him.
"I love you, Bill Martin," she whispered.
"I lo- Wow. Uh, I wasn't expecting that..." he muttered, his thick neck turning a bright shade of red.
"Sounds like maybe you were," Julie said.
"Motherfucker," Bill swore. "Julie, I've had a crush on you since the moment we met. At my interview. I saw you sitting there and afterwards, when I went home, I couldn't get that image out of my head. And I... I'm... I've been in love with you since that morning at the diner, when that asshat kept running his mouth."
Julie smiled at him. "So you love me?"
"Yeah," Bill said. Something snapped inside his chest and he seized her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. Her lips felt different, warmer, softer than he remembered. The skin of her cheeks under his calloused thumbs was smoother, fuller. The feeling of her body pressed up against his was...
It felt like coming home, he thought.
They kissed for a long moment before Bill drew back. "I uh..." he stammered.
"You need to get your team together," Julie said.
"Yeah," he responded, looking around as if they were here, waiting for him.
He clutched the compass to his chest. "I saw Michelle's report," he said. "From what she said, he's moving across planes."
"Stacey Compton is probably the most talented plane walker we have," Julie said. "And she's been working on the teleporter improvements. She should still be here."
Bill nodded. "I'll grab her. She got a rave review from one of the security teams when she was doing field work. Cool head under pressure. I still need to figure out the rest."
"You can leave in the morning, you know," Julie said. Bill met her gaze, and saw the twinkle there.
"The door's still open," he said.
"I thought you said there wasn't anyone left to disturb us..." Julie said teasingly. Bill grinned. "In that case, the couch in the lobby is bound to be more comfortable than my desk."
Julie took his hand and led him out of the office.
----
Bill woke up and froze, the unfamiliarity of his surroundings speeding up his heart. But only for a second. He recognized Julie's bedroom. His hand brushed her sleeping back as the memories of last night returned. His eyes went to the dresser, where his handgun, wallet, and a small compass were laid out.
They'd had dinner, then come back here and enjoyed their third tryst of the day before falling asleep in each others arms. He remembered the words they'd shared, and tried them out again on her sleeping back.
"I love you," he said. Julie murmured something and pulled the hand he'd placed on her hip down over her belly. He gave her a moment to cuddle, then gently extricated his hand and climbed out of bed. He jumped in the shower and washed quickly. A small pump bottle of brightly colored body wash-slash-shampoo and conditioner, obviously marketed to men, sat unopened to one side, so he cracked that one and used it.
He climbed out and dried himself off, and found Julie still asleep when he emerged. She'd rolled onto her back and lay stretched out on the bed, her hair a chestnut halo around her head, like some kind of angel. He considered snapping a picture, but the blankets were tangled around her knees, and he didn't want to do something that would piss her off, like taking nude photos of her sleeping. But he really wanted to remember this, so he stared for a long moment before getting dressed.
"Mmm, leaving?" Julie murmured as he pulled his boots on.
"Was gonna wake you up, see if you wanted to get breakfast before I go," he said.
"Mmmmmmm," she responded, her eyes still closed. She reached out and seized his forearm gently.
"Mmm, I love you," she said. Bill grinned down at her, barely able to stand how gorgeous and adorable she was.
"I love you, too," he said.
Her eyes snapped open. "I wanna get breakfast," she said.
"Okay, then come on," he replied.
She sat up, rubbing her eyes. "I need a shower," she said.
"Clock's ticking," Bill noted. She swung her legs out of bed, then slumped.
"Fuck the shower, you have to go, soon."
"Yeah," Bill agreed sadly.
"Okay, lemme brush my teeth, at least." She stood and padded into the bathroom, so Bill sat patiently on the bed and waited. She emerged a few minutes later. "Clothes," she said, then turned to the closet as if she'd just remembered that clothes were a thing. She dug out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and quickly pulled them on.
"I'll wear sandals," she said, grabbing a pair of large-framed sunglasses from her dresser. "Come on."
They went to a diner two blocks away that they'd visited a few times before. Breakfast was ordered, delivered and eaten, coffee was poured, fawned over, and drank quickly. Finally, Julie settled the bill.
"Bill," she said. "When you get there, tell him I'm sorry, okay? I was... Part of it was personal reasons. I kinda wanted to push him away. So you could..."
"So I could get closer?" Bill asked. she nodded.
"I'll tell him."
They stood and walked outside. At Bill's car, he stopped and turned. "Are you sure you don't want a ride home?"
"Yeah, this is a safe neighborhood. And I've still got that handgun in my purse. And it's only two blocks. You need to get moving, as much as I want to draw this out."
Bill nodded. He stroked her hair, then pulled some of it to his face and breathed deeply.
"Yuck," Julie said. "I haven't washed it."
"It smells like you," Bill said. "Best thing I've ever smelled."
"Ahh, that's right. We haven't been out for tacos yet," Julie said. Bill chuckled.
"You don't have any jewelry on," he said, disappointed. Julie cocked her head at him. "Is that a problem?"
"I guess not, I just... I wanted something of you. To bring with me. I'm damn sure I'm riding into a fight."
"Give me your knife," Julie said. Bill's eyebrows rose, but he complied, handing over the razor-sharp Benchmade he kept clipped to his belt. She unfolded it, seized a lock of her hair and chopped it off in a quick motion. Bill gasped.
"Your hair!" he said. Julie handed him the knife back and carefully began to tie the hair into a complex knot.
"I was about to cut it short, anyways. I like to change it up from time to time. Here," she handed him the small ring of braided hair, and he took it. Bill looked at it, then up at Julie.
"I love you," he said again.
Julie beamed at him. "I love you, too. Now let me go get in the shower. I've got to get to the office." She kissed him once on the lips and spun on her heels, striding away quickly. Bill climbed in the driver's seat and looked up to see she'd stopped and was watching him.
He raised the hair and kissed it. She smiled, blushed and turned away.
Part 62

Posted by u/labor_anoymous
1. Jan 1, 2023 MAYFIELD, KY (WSIL)
The Graves County Sheriff's Office is investigating an armed robbery that occurred last night.According to a post on the office's Facebook page, the robbery happened on Saturday, December 31 at around 9:44 p.m. An older woman walked into the Dollar General located at 3854 Hwy 45 North in Mayfield, KY. The woman took out a gun and proceeded to rob the store.
2. UPPER SANDUSKY, Ohio (WTVG) Jan. 1, 2023 at 3:58 PM PST
A man is accused of murdering a Dollar Tree employee with a machete inside an Upper Sandusky, Ohio store on New Year’s Day, the city’s police chief told 13abc. Officers received a call around 4:25 p.m. Sunday for a man waving a weapon around inside the store. He left before officers got there, according to Upper Sandusky Police Chief Jared Lucas. Officers later located the suspect, Bethel M. Bekele, 27, on the 100 block of South Fifth Street and arrested him.
3. Jan. 1, 2023 at 12:06 PM PST
\Duplicate* in Mayfield Case* GRAVES COUNTY, KY (KFVS)
Mayfield woman was arrested in connection with an armed robbery at Dollar General in January.
Ruby May Turner, 61, was arrested on a charge of first-degree robbery.She was taken to an out-of-county detention facility.According to the Graves County Sheriff’s Office, an armed robbery was reported at 9:44 p.m. on December 31.Employees told investigators that an older woman had entered the store armed with a pistol and demanding money. She was wearing a partial mask during the robbery.
3. Jan 2, 2023 Monroe, Louisiana
A Dollar General store clerk in Monroe has been arrested and charged with manslaughter after shooting an alleged armed robber, according to the Monroe Police Department.Police responded to the shooting at the Dollar General at 711 South 8th Street on Monday, January 2, 2023.According to arrest records, there was an armed robbery at the store and a store clerk shot at the suspect. However, at some point, a customer was shot as well.The suspected armed robber was found outside of the store lying in the money he allegedly had taken. He would later die from his injuries.The customer who was shot was taken to a local hospital where they were treated and later released.
4. January 4th 2023 TULSA, Okla. (KTUL)
2 women arrested for alleged robbery at north Tulsa Family Dollar
The Tulsa Police Department arrested two women for allegedly robbing a Family Dollar.On Jan. 3, just before 2 p.m., officers responded to a robbery call at the Family Dollar near Admiral and Harvard.Employees told police that two women entered the store, grabbed multiple clothing items, and attempted to leave.The women were later identified as Deshanon Washington and Markeasha Norman. When employees attempted to stop them, Washington appeared to have a weapon and threatened to shoot the employee.Witnesses and employees reported the two left in a red Dodge pickup truck.With help from FLOCK Safety System, TPD was able to track down the truck about an hour-and-a-half later near Peoria and East 51st Street North.Washington and Norman were taken into custody during a traffic stop.Police say stolen sweatpants were found inside the truck and Washington had fentanyl pills inside her purse.Norman and Washington were arrested for robbery by force or fear and Washington was also arrested for drug possession.
5. January 5, 2023 4:07pm Brooklyn, NY
at a Dollar Tree located at 679 Van Sinderen Avenue in East New York.
NYC Dollar Tree worker shot during attempted robbery, cops say
A worker was shot by a would-be thief at a Dollar Tree in Brooklyn — just hours after an employee at a Manhattan smoke shop was struck in the back during a possible attempted robbery, police said. The male employee was blasted once in the left leg inside the store on Van Sinderen Avenue near New Lots Avenue in East New York around 8:40 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said. He was taken to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.The suspect – who fled after the shooting and was still on the loose Thursday – wore camouflage clothing, cops said. The incident came just hours after a Lower East Side smoke shop worker was also shot during a possible attempted robbery, authorities said.Three armed suspects entered Exotic Convenience at 79 Clinton St. around 6:40 p.m. as one of the men opened fire, striking the employee in the lower back, police said.
6. Jan. 6, 2023 at 1:31 PM PST PUEBLO, Colo. (KKTV)
Man suspected of dressing as a woman after robbing a Colorado Dollar General, police say
A man is suspected of robbing a Dollar General in Pueblo before going across the street and dressing as a woman, according to Pueblo Police.The incident was reported on Wednesday at about 8:50 a.m. when officers were called to the store in the 2400 block of S. Prairie Ave. The store is west of Lake Minnequa. Police are reporting surveillance video showed a man wearing a black hoodie along with a black and red flannel shirt robbing the store before running across the street to the Pueblo Village Apartments.“Officers responded to the apartments and watched surveillance there, where they were able to determine the suspect did run into an apartment on the property,” part of a news release from Pueblo Police reads. “A perimeter was set up and contact was made at that apartment. The resident of the apartment gave officers consent to search the apartment where they contacted a total of six individuals inside. One of those individuals was identified as Brandon Hoskins who, at the time of contact, was dressed as a woman to include wearing a wig, camisole, and padded bra. During the search, officers found clothes matching those the suspect wore, to include the flannel shirt. In the pants of the clothing, officers found Hoskins’ wallet which had his ID. One of the other occupants of the apartment had a large number of bills in denominations matching those taken from the Dollar General store.
7. January 10, 2023 Lehigh Acres, Florida
Family Dollar at 3519 Lee Boulevard in Lee County on Monday, Oct. 17.
A suspect has been arrested for reportedly robbing a Family Dollar at 3519 Lee Boulevard in Lee County on Monday, Oct. 17.According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Raymond Bindas, a Family Dollar employee, said a man with his face covered came into the store demanding money from the register.The suspect went behind the counter, taking approximately $245 from the register and cigarettes. Meanwhile, Maliek Petit Homme, 21, from Immokalee, stayed by the door watching for anyone to enter the store.Later, Detective Rivera-Silva sent cigarette packs and other items the suspects may have touched testing, attempting to get a lead.Detectives got a lead and identified Homme as potentially the lookout.On Friday, January 6, 2023, Detective Rucker was notified that Homme was located due to an unrelated criminal investigation and was getting arrested.Homme was interviewed and made aware of the Family Dollar robbery and claimed he was an innocent bystander inside the store, having no involvement in the robbery at all. Homme denied knowing who the suspect was, claiming he was a stranger.Detective Rucker explained that based on witness statements, Homme was identified as the lookout.Homme clarified he and the suspect left simultaneously but in different directions after getting permission from the suspect.Then, Homme gave a conflicting story stating before he walked in, the suspect walked in before him and then demanded he act as a lookout while he robbed the store and threatened to kill him if he didn’t.Homme then changed his story for a third time claiming before entering the store, the suspect “appeared out of nowhere” on the sidewalk, demanding to be the lookout or he would kill him.A point to be aware of, Homme never attempted to contact law enforcement and make a report of the incident.
8. Jan 10, 2023 The Blackville Police Department (BPD)
Dollar General robbery to be an inside job and have arrested all individuals involved including a clerk and former employee.
Barnwell County Detention Center: Katovius Raheem Sincino, 26, of Blackville, was charged with armed robbery, possession of a firearm in a violent crime, and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.According to BPD, Sincino entered the store around 9:30 p.m. wearing a black leather jacket and khaki pants. He then pointed a black semi-automatic pistol at the clerk, Curtis Wayne Gilyard Jr., who was later found to be a part of the crime.“The employee and the other two conspired to rob the Dollar General while the employee was working. He was part of the plan,” said BPD Lieutenant Brian Gray.
Barnwell County Detention Center: Gilyard, 25, of Blackville, was charged with robbery and criminal conspiracy.While inside, Sincino took money from the drawer and the safe.
Barnwell County Detention Center: Also involved was former Blackville Dollar General employee Kyriek Dei’jon Kearse, 25 of Blackville. Kearse was charged with robbery and criminal conspiracy.A taskforce of BPD officers were assigned to look for these individuals after all three arrest warrants were obtained.Gilyard and Kearse were arrested on the afternoon of January 3 by BPD at the Hampton Apartments in Blackville.Sincino turned himself in the next day on January 4.“He actually came to the police station and turned himself in,” said BPD Captain Lee Huggins.All individuals have been released to Barnwell County Detention Center.BPD was unable to disclose any further details on the investigation.Hours before this robbery took place, the Dollar General in Hilda was robbed around 5 p.m. A gun was not brandished at the Hilda location and the robber did not steal any items as other customers began entering the store.
9. January 11, 2023 Fort Myers, FL
Authorities looking to identify person of interest in Dollar General robbery
Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers are looking for a man involved in a robbery that occurred at Dollar General on New York Dr. in Fort Myers.The man was last seen wearing a black Nike shirt with blue sleeves and dark joggers.
10. CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) January 12, 2023
78-year-old man dies from injuries after robbery in Clovis, family says
A 78-year-old Clovis man has died after being attacked and robbed while picking up the morning paper.The family of Frank Moore confirmed his death to Action News.Moore was known for stopping at the Dollar Tree at Herndon and Clovis to pick up a newspaper every morning.Witnesses in the area told Clovis police officers that Moore was attacked last month, hit over the head, and left lying on the ground.Officers say the suspect, now identified as 37-year-old Joseph Wright, took off with Moore's phone. Officials say because store employees gave a good description, they were able to track Wright down quickly in the area.Wright is facing five felony charges including battery, assault and elder abuse.Moore was hospitalized in critical condition for several days before dying from his injuries.
11. Jan 12, 2023 LUBBOCK, Texas
The Lubbock Police Department was investigating a robbery that occurred at a Dollar General store on 82nd Street Monday evening, according to a police report.According to the report, the victim was assisting a customer just before 10:00 p.m. when she saw the suspect from the corner of her eye. The report then said the suspect pointed a rifle at the victim’s face and demanded the cash from the till.The victim still had the drawer open and backed away. The suspect approached, took the property and left the scene, according to the report.The victim and another employee told everyone in the store to leave, closed and locked the front door, and called the police.
12. AMARILLO, Texas (KVII) January 13th 2023, 9:01 AM PST
Robbery Spree: Man robs Dollar General, Sonic at gunpoint, Amarillo police say
A man is accused of robbing a Dollar General and a Sonic at gunpoint.According to Amarillo police, a man robbed the Dollar General at 3412 South Georgia Street at 8:25 p.m. Thursday.The suspect, a black male wearing dark clothing and a blue bandana, pulled out a gun and demanded money. He then left the scene in what was described as a maroon sedan.While investigating the Dollar General robbery, police were called to a robbery at the Sonic located at 1714 South Western Street.At 9:23 p.m., someone matching the description of the suspect from the Dollar General robbery, entered the restaurant and pulled a gun on employees.He demanded money and then left the scene.
13. Jan, 13 2023 20:00 WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE)
Crime Stoppers: Armed robbery at south Wichita Dollar General
Wichita police need your help in catching an armed robber.Security video captured the suspect walking into the Dollar General at 1919 E Pawnee on January 13 at 8 p.m. The video shows the man in a raiders jacket with a green military-style bag.The video shows him walking through the store grabbing a few items. Then you can see the clerk lock the front door and walk away. Police say she locked the door because she saw the man shoplifting.
But as soon as the suspect gets to the locked door, he shows what police say is a gun."We encourage anyone to comply to their demands because no amount of property is worth your life," said Crime Stoppers Coordinator Trevor Macy.As soon as the clerk saw the gun, the video shows her unlocking the door for the suspect. He walks through, casually puts the gun back in his jack, and slowly walks away as if nothing had happened.Customers say this type of crime has to stop. Without this store, they would have nowhere close to shopping."They are trying to support us, customers,” said shopper Clarissa Holloway. “We can't just have people going around stealing."
14. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) January 14th 2023, 7:57 PM PST
— A woman approached the cashier to buy soda, and once the cash register drawer opened, she threatens to shoot the worker if she didn't give her all the money, police said. On Wednesday, a woman stole an unspecified amount of money from a Dollar General store in the 1500 block of Lockbourne Road.
Jan 15, 2023 Germantown Square, MD
GERMANTOWN DOLLAR STORE ARMED ROBBERY: ~10:45PM Sunday, Germantown Square Dollar General robbed at gunpoint (Great Seneca Hwy/Wisteria Drive in Germantown/MoCo, MD). Robber armed with handgun obtained an unknown sum of US Currency.
15. Jan. 16, 2023 at 4:38 PM PST CASPER, Wyoming
A suspect is wanted after committing two armed robberies Sunday night... and attempting a third.
(Wyoming News Now) - A suspect is wanted after committing two armed robberies Sunday night... and attempting a third. This all happened within a two hour span, roughly.At around 7:30 pm on Sunday, Casper Police says this suspect... Who they’re identifying as an unknown white male... Robbed the Family Dollar store on CY Avenue.At around 8:50 pm, while police were investigating that first robbery... He entered the Kum & Go convenience store at 15th and McKinley, but fled when other customers pulled into the parking lot.A store employee tells police the suspect appeared to be holding a gun in the pocket of his coat.Just minutes later, he robbed the Big D gas station on E 12th Street.At the two locations he successfully robbed, witnesses say he brandished a firearm, possibly a pistol.Casper
16. Monday, January 16, 2023 HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK)
Family Dollar store clerk shot by 1 of 3 robbery suspects in N. Houston, police said
A store clerk is expected to be OK after being shot by a robbery suspect in north Houston, police said.North Belt officers received a call on Monday at about 8:54 p.m. of a robbery at a Family Dollar in the 11000 block of Airline Drive.According to HPD, a hold-up alarm was set off after three suspects came in and held up the store with the clerk inside.The clerk was shot in the lower leg, and the three suspects fled on foot, police said.
17. 1/17/23 Petersburg, TN
On Saturday, January 15th, Marshall County Sheriff’s Department was dispatched to the Dollar General in Petersburg stating that a robbery had occurred
The dispatch described the suspect as a white male wearing tan coveralls with a black hoodie and a black mask. The suspect had run towards Church Street and several deputies from the Marshall County and Lincoln County Sherrif’s Departments had responded. Deputy Shelby of Marshall County was the first to arrive on scene and verified the Dollar General employee was safe and uninjured.
Deputies followed a lead and searched the property at 304 Church Street for the suspect who was not found. Deputies Newbill and Shelby went back to the Dollar General and obtained the written statement of events by Tammy Crowley. They obtained a video of the incident for the on-site cameras and Detective Captain Oliver assisted and spoke with the victim and witnesses. Three hundred and sixty-four dollars were stollen from the register. This is still an on-going investigation.
18. January 18th 2023, 2:16 PM PST ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla
A woman was robbed at gunpoint outside a Dollar General in Escambia County on Wednesday, according to deputies.The incident happened around 11 a.m. outside the Dollar General on Lillian Highway.The Escambia County Sheriff's Office responded for an armed robbery.A woman was reportedly walking to the store when a man on a bicycle approached her. Family of the victim says he asked her to buy him something, but she refused to. The man reportedly pulled a gun on the woman and robbed her of cash before getting away on his bike.The Escambia County Sheriff's Office is investigating.
19. LADSON, S.C. (WCBD) Jan 19, 2023 / 10:21 AM EST
An investigation is underway following an armed robbery that happened Thursday morning at a Dollar General store.
The incident happened around 8:30 a.m. Thursday when an armed male suspect entered the store located on Ladson Road, according to the Summerville Police Department.
20. Jan, 20, 2023 PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio
Dollar Tree employee assaulted while stopping shoplifters: Parma Heights Police Blotter
Assault: Olde York Road
On Jan. 20, police were dispatched to a Dollar Tree store on Olde York Road. The caller said two unruly customers had assaulted an employee.
21. January 20, 2023 San Antonio TX
San Antonio Dollar Tree installs noise machine to deter homeless, drawing criticism from neighbors
A loud noise is aggravating west-side neighbors, emanating from the Dollar Tree off Culebra and Zarzamora.
Our camera captured the piercing ring around 3:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon. But neighbors tell us it's even on during the night.
A manager at the Dollar Tree in question told KENS 5 they installed the sound machine for safety purposes. She said it's mainly women who work at the store, and they want to feel safe going to their cars after dark.
22. Jan 20, 2023 08:15 CARROLL COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV)
Three people were arrested in connection to an armed robbery in Blackhawk on Thursday, January 20.Officials with the Carroll Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility said law enforcement was called about the armed robbery around 8:15 a.m. Law enforcement responded to the scene and met the suspect as he was exiting the store. The armed suspect confronted a responding state trooper and ran away.
23. Friday, January 20, 2023 Cambridge, Nebraska
Sheriff: Employee clocked in, robbed store
Authorities are looking for two people who allegedly stole more than $5,000 in cash and cigarettes from the Dollar General Store in Cambridge and fled the state.The Valley Voice reported that a the theft was discovered Saturday morning when a vendor arrived to find the store closed.Furnas County Sheriff Doug Brown told the newspaper an employee of the store unlocked the door and even clocked in before she and an unidentified second party stole the cash and cigarettes, which amounts to a Class IIA felony.
24. ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. Jan 20, 2023
Family Dollar was robbed on Wednesday by an armed suspect who authorities believe is responsible for two other robberies.According to a press release from the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, at about 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 13, the Dollar General on Silvertown Road in Enfield was robbed. The suspect was described as a slim black male dressed in all black with his face hidden by a coat hood who entered the store and used a dark-colored handgun to rob the working employee.At about 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 14, the Subway restaurant located on West 10th Street in Roanoke Rapids was robbed, where the suspect was described as a nearly 6-foot-tall slim black male wearing all black with his face hidden with a coat hood. The assailant entered the building and used a dark-colored handgun to rob the employees. The press release reads the victims noticed another male subject outside looking out, but were unable to provide any identifying details about the person.The third robbery on Wednesday occurred at about 8:40 p.m. at the Family Dollar store on N.C. Highway 48 in Roanoke Rapids, according to the press release from the sheriff’s office. The suspect was described as a slim build black male dressed in all black with his face hidden by a coat hood and entered the store using a dark-colored handgun to rob employees.With the suspected linkage between the robberies, Guyant said law enforcement strongly encourages business owners to take precautions against armed assailants and theft.“Sadly, it is the world we live in,” he said. “By being prepared and having functioning video surveillance, we can get information to the public more efficiently and can hopefully deter future types of crimes. I do not want anyone to think they need to live in fear. We just want to stress that we should all be more vigilant, attentive, and alert of our surroundings. We have no way of knowing if these incidents will continue.”
25. Jan 20, 2023 Daytona Beach, Volusia county, FL
Man accused of robbing Dollar Tree, holding employees at gunpoint in Volusia County
A previously convicted felon is accused of robbing a Dollar Tree store in Daytona Beach Wednesday night.Howard Eady, 51, is charged with armed robbery and aggravated battery.Police say Eady, wearing a mask, went into the store on Beville Road just before closing, pointed a gun at two employees and forced them to take him into the office and open the safe.At one point, police say he grabbed one employee by the arm and shoved another with the gun, but the employees were otherwise not hurt.Police say Eady grabbed money from the safe and took off.He was arrested the next day.
26. EMORY, Texas (KETK) Jan 22, 2023
Alleged Dollar General burglary under investigation in Rains County
Rains County Sheriff’s Office announced they are investigating a suspected Sunday morning burglary from a Dollar General store in Emory.
27. LELAND, N.C. (WECT) Jan. 22, 2023, at 11:23 AM PST
The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office has announced that a suspect is in custody following an armed robbery that took place at a Family Dollar in Leland on Jan. 22.The incident happened around 1 p.m. at the Family Dollar on Lanvale Road in Leland.
28. Nashville Tennessee January 23, 2023 (7 robberies)
An investigation spanning nearly a month into a series of armed robberies at Nashville area dollar stores culminated Sunday night with the arrest of ex-con Terrance Turner, 43, who, through surveillance, was taken into custody shortly after robbing Dollar Tree at 2806 Smith Springs Road.
Dollar General, 2275 Murfreesboro Pike, January 2
Dollar General, 2214 Hobson Pike, January 4
Dollar Tree, 2806 Smith Springs Road, January 5
Dollar General, 3803 October Woods Drive, January 10
Dollar General, 2275 Murfreesboro Pike, January 12
Dollar Tree, 2806 Smith Springs Road, January 22
29. January 23rd, 2023, 10:40 AM PST Thomasville, N.C.
Thomasville Dollar General Robbed for Third Time
THOMASVILLE, N.C. — Public help is needed for Thomasville Police in finding the suspect from a Dollar General robbery on Saturday night.Around 9:00 p.m., Police were called to an armed robbery at the 1602 Lexington Avenue location. Employees told police a man with a gun entered the store, went to the counter, and demanded money. The suspect then fled on foot with an unknown amount of cash.A customer who witnessed the robbery followed the suspect out of the store and through the parking lot. After a short verbal exchange between the customer and suspect, the suspect shot once and continued to escape. No injuries or damages were reported. A police K9 pursuit proved to be unsuccessful.Police believe this robbery is connected to the December 10 robbery from the same location. The suspect, dressed in the same clothing, entered the store around 9:00 p.m. and demanded money. The suspect was last seen fleeing on foot with an unknown amount of cash.
30. Jan 23, 2023 ST. MARTIN, Miss. (WLOX)
New details are being released surrounding an armed robbery that led to a three-county pursuit.Celeste Sellers is held on charges of armed robbery, providing false information to a police officer, felony fleeing and reckless driving.According to Hancock County Sheriff Ricky Adam, Sellers held two employees at gunpoint at a Dollar General on Highway 43 near North Benville Road.
31. Friday, January 24, 2023 Detroit, MI.
WATCH: Democratic-ruled Detroit sees 20 different dollar stores robbed in 22 days
Dollar stores are easy prey for armed criminals, according to White.
Since the start of the new year, at least 20 dollar store locations in the Motor City have been robbed, Detroit Police Department Chief James White said Monday.
“We are confident that the person that we are bringing charges on, which we already have in custody, but we’re waiting on the warrant to be signed, is good for multiple robberies,” White said.Out of the 20 dollar stores that have been robbed, Local 4 learned that 18 of them were Family Dollar stores that were targeted because the robber was exploiting a security flaw within their stores.“Get some cameras and make sure they’re pointed right at the entry point,” White said. “Get faces so that we can get these persons off of the street.”
32. NASHVILLE, Tenn. Jan. 24, 2023 at 6:19 AM
Metro Nashville Police arrested a woman on Monday for allegedly robbing a Dollar General store at gunpoint in Nashville.According to the arrest affidavit, two employees observed 29-year-old Tiffany Mendez walk into their store on Monday with her two young children. They told police that Mendez asked to use the store’s bathroom, and when she was told it was not for public use, she walked to the back of the store and “used the bathroom on the floor.”Upon discovering what happened, the employees told Mendez to leave, took her merchandise, and placed it behind the counter. Mendez forced her way behind the counter and managed to steal one baby doll before exiting the store with her children.Moments later, Mendez returned without her children but now had a black handgun and pointed it at the employees while making her way behind the counter to retrieve the items. She then fled the scene in a vehicle.The employees alerted the store manager during the incident, who arrived just as Mendez was fleeing the scene. The manager followed her vehicle to a residence on Connare Drive in.Madison, where police placed her under arrest.After resisting arrest, Mendez was taken into custody after being positively identified by the employees and video surveillance from the store.
33. Jan. 25, 2023, 12:38 p.m SAGINAW, MI
Man tracked through snow after Saginaw Family Dollar robbery charged with life offense
Just after 9 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 22, Saginaw police responded to a reported robbery at the Family Dollar at 3220 Sheridan Ave., according to Detective Sgt. Matthew Gerow. A male clerk told officers he had stepped out of the door and saw a man apparently sleeping on the south side of the property.The clerk went back inside and returned to the register. Shortly thereafter, the man he had seen sleeping entered as well, came up behind him, and pressed something against his head, Gerow said. Police allege this man was Henderson.Henderson began yelling for the clerk to open the store’s safe. The clerk was unable to open the safe, at which point his assailant pushed him into an employee office. The clerk then saw the man run from the store, carrying merchandise, Gerow said.The suspect did not manage to get any cash from the safe or register, Gerow added.Officers established a perimeter around the store, with Officer Irvin Ward using K-9 Denver to track the robber through the fresh snow. The track led to the backdoor of a residence several blocks away.
34. Jan 25, 2023 Wichita, KS
The Dollar General employee spotted an armed man approaching the store at 2020 E**.** 21st St**. at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday and locked the doors before he could**
35. Milledgeville, GA Jan 28, 2023
A man riding a bicycle has been arrested for reportedly robbing a Milledgeville business at knifepoint, local authorities say.Police arrested the suspect shortly after the crime happened.The robbery happened about 9:15 p.m. on Jan. 19 at the Dollar General store, located on Roberson Mill Road, according to an incident report filed by Milledgeville Police Department Officer Lane Aultman.A man fitting the description of the suspect provided by the store clerk was spotted by an officer riding a bicycle with a pair of knives in his hands, Aultman said.The suspect was later identified as Jadarrus McDowell. He was detained and placed into the backseat of a patrol car and driven back to the Dollar General.McDowell was charged with armed robbery and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime.After his arrest, the suspect was taken to the Baldwin County Law Enforcement Center and jailed.The store clerk said the man entered the store and walked to the back.When the suspect walked back up to the front of the store, the clerk said he dropped a pair of gloves, valued at $5.Aultman said the clerk asked the man if he was going to pay for the gloves as he was walking out the front doors of the store.The clerk said the man turned toward her and brandished a knife, Aultman said in his report.He reportedly pointed the knife at the clerk and said, “I’m taking this,” before he left the store.
36. Jan 29, 2023 Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee security guard attacked, shot on the job by alleged robber
Blindsided, beaten and shot, a Family Dollar security guard is talking about the night he almost died on the job.David Chapel-Stoltz is grateful for every step after nearly losing his life last month."I just remember being on the ground and having a spiritual moment," said Chapel-Stoltz. Chapel-Stoltz said he was working security at the Family Dollar near 35th and Garfield when he was attacked on Jan. 29. The attacker blindsided him."I just saw black. I saw black because I got hit in the face with a crowbar," Chapel-Stoltz said. "He ended up taking my own gun and shooting me with my own gun, and then they robbed the Family Dollar**."**
37. Jan 30, 2023 at 6:15 PM Milwaukee, WI
Police are investigating an armed robbery of a Family Dollar near 60th and Silver Spring around 6:15 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30.Unknown suspects entered the business fired shots, demanded and obtained property.
38. Jan. 30, 2023 at 11:48 AM PST AKRON, Ohio (WOIO)
Detectives are asking for the community’s help in identifying a man who robbed a Family Dollar on Saturday night.Police say officers responded to the Family Dollar located at the 900 block of South Arlington Street around 8:30 p.m. where they met with the clerk of the store.According to the employee, the suspect was seen stuffing electronic products into his pockets.Police say the suspect flashed a handgun and threatened the manager before leaving the store.The suspect was last seen getting into a dark-colored vehicle that was headed northbound out of the parking lot after the robbery, police say.
39. January 31, 2023 at 11:53 pm Brockton, Massachusetts
1 Dead in Double Shooting at Dollar Tree Store in Brockton
Two people were shot, one fatally, at a Dollar Tree store in Brockton, Massachusetts, on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.Both of the victims were rushed to local hospitals from the store at 999 North Montello Street, which is also Route 28, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said. Both were shot inside the store.Brockton police said one of the people had died. Police didn't immediately say if anyone was in custody in connection with the shooting.Surveillance video shows someone walking into Dollar Tree on North Montello Street Tuesday afternoon. Moments later, several people can be seen running out of the store.After less than a minute, the person who had walked in can be seen leaving the store and taking off.Lisa Dower lives right across the street and came outside when she heard multiple police cars arriving. She saw one of the victims, who had managed to make it to the street."The gentleman was lying on the sidewalk," she said. "At first, he wasn't moving. I was scared for him, and then I saw his arms moving."He was rushed to the hospital."When they put him on the gurney, I noticed blood around part of his leg," said Dower.A bullet hole could be seen in a front window.Investigators haven't said if the victims were shoppers or employees. Nearby residents who shop at the Dollar Tree often spoke highly of the workers."They're very helpful," said Alexander Williams. "They go out of their way, they're not aggravating, they're not impatient, they're doing their job, trying to make it like the rest of us out here."A spokesperson for Dollar Tree released a brief statement Tuesday night."We are aware of the tragic incident at our store in Brockton, MA (N. Montello St. location) this afternoon and are actively assisting law enforcement with their investigation. Our hearts go out to the victims of this horrible crime."The part of the city where the shooting occurred is a busy area with multiple other businesses, including an Advance Auto Parts next door and a Stop & Shop grocery store located across the street.
40. Jan 31, 2023 Lacy Lakeview, TX
101 N Lacy Drive
Lacy Lakeview police are looking for a man who robbed a store late Sunday while wearing a gold skull Halloween mask.
The man used a firearm to rob a Dollar General at about 10 p.m. Sunday, according to a Lacy Lakeview Police Department Facebook post. In addition to the mask, the man wore all-black clothing, and he is 5 feet, 10 inches to 6 feet tall, according to the post.
Police ask that anyone with information that could lead to an arrest in the robbery contact them and refer to case No. 23-0070.

Posted by u/labor_anoymous 2 minutes ago
1. Jan 1, 2023 MAYFIELD, KY (WSIL)
The Graves County Sheriff's Office is investigating an armed robbery that occurred last night.According to a post on the office's Facebook page, the robbery happened on Saturday, December 31 at around 9:44 p.m. An older woman walked into the Dollar General located at 3854 Hwy 45 North in Mayfield, KY. The woman took out a gun and proceeded to rob the store.
2. UPPER SANDUSKY, Ohio (WTVG) Jan. 1, 2023 at 3:58 PM PST
A man is accused of murdering a Dollar Tree employee with a machete inside an Upper Sandusky, Ohio store on New Year’s Day, the city’s police chief told 13abc. Officers received a call around 4:25 p.m. Sunday for a man waving a weapon around inside the store. He left before officers got there, according to Upper Sandusky Police Chief Jared Lucas. Officers later located the suspect, Bethel M. Bekele, 27, on the 100 block of South Fifth Street and arrested him.
3. Jan. 1, 2023 at 12:06 PM PST
\Duplicate* in Mayfield Case* GRAVES COUNTY, KY (KFVS)
Mayfield woman was arrested in connection with an armed robbery at Dollar General in January.
Ruby May Turner, 61, was arrested on a charge of first-degree robbery.She was taken to an out-of-county detention facility.According to the Graves County Sheriff’s Office, an armed robbery was reported at 9:44 p.m. on December 31.Employees told investigators that an older woman had entered the store armed with a pistol and demanding money. She was wearing a partial mask during the robbery.
3. Jan 2, 2023 Monroe, Louisiana
A Dollar General store clerk in Monroe has been arrested and charged with manslaughter after shooting an alleged armed robber, according to the Monroe Police Department.Police responded to the shooting at the Dollar General at 711 South 8th Street on Monday, January 2, 2023.According to arrest records, there was an armed robbery at the store and a store clerk shot at the suspect. However, at some point, a customer was shot as well.The suspected armed robber was found outside of the store lying in the money he allegedly had taken. He would later die from his injuries.The customer who was shot was taken to a local hospital where they were treated and later released.
4. January 4th 2023 TULSA, Okla. (KTUL)
2 women arrested for alleged robbery at north Tulsa Family Dollar
The Tulsa Police Department arrested two women for allegedly robbing a Family Dollar.On Jan. 3, just before 2 p.m., officers responded to a robbery call at the Family Dollar near Admiral and Harvard.Employees told police that two women entered the store, grabbed multiple clothing items, and attempted to leave.The women were later identified as Deshanon Washington and Markeasha Norman. When employees attempted to stop them, Washington appeared to have a weapon and threatened to shoot the employee.Witnesses and employees reported the two left in a red Dodge pickup truck.With help from FLOCK Safety System, TPD was able to track down the truck about an hour-and-a-half later near Peoria and East 51st Street North.Washington and Norman were taken into custody during a traffic stop.Police say stolen sweatpants were found inside the truck and Washington had fentanyl pills inside her purse.Norman and Washington were arrested for robbery by force or fear and Washington was also arrested for drug possession.
5. January 5, 2023 4:07pm Brooklyn, NY
at a Dollar Tree located at 679 Van Sinderen Avenue in East New York.
NYC Dollar Tree worker shot during attempted robbery, cops say
A worker was shot by a would-be thief at a Dollar Tree in Brooklyn — just hours after an employee at a Manhattan smoke shop was struck in the back during a possible attempted robbery, police said. The male employee was blasted once in the left leg inside the store on Van Sinderen Avenue near New Lots Avenue in East New York around 8:40 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said. He was taken to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.The suspect – who fled after the shooting and was still on the loose Thursday – wore camouflage clothing, cops said. The incident came just hours after a Lower East Side smoke shop worker was also shot during a possible attempted robbery, authorities said.Three armed suspects entered Exotic Convenience at 79 Clinton St. around 6:40 p.m. as one of the men opened fire, striking the employee in the lower back, police said.
6. Jan. 6, 2023 at 1:31 PM PST PUEBLO, Colo. (KKTV)
Man suspected of dressing as a woman after robbing a Colorado Dollar General, police say
A man is suspected of robbing a Dollar General in Pueblo before going across the street and dressing as a woman, according to Pueblo Police.The incident was reported on Wednesday at about 8:50 a.m. when officers were called to the store in the 2400 block of S. Prairie Ave. The store is west of Lake Minnequa. Police are reporting surveillance video showed a man wearing a black hoodie along with a black and red flannel shirt robbing the store before running across the street to the Pueblo Village Apartments.“Officers responded to the apartments and watched surveillance there, where they were able to determine the suspect did run into an apartment on the property,” part of a news release from Pueblo Police reads. “A perimeter was set up and contact was made at that apartment. The resident of the apartment gave officers consent to search the apartment where they contacted a total of six individuals inside. One of those individuals was identified as Brandon Hoskins who, at the time of contact, was dressed as a woman to include wearing a wig, camisole, and padded bra. During the search, officers found clothes matching those the suspect wore, to include the flannel shirt. In the pants of the clothing, officers found Hoskins’ wallet which had his ID. One of the other occupants of the apartment had a large number of bills in denominations matching those taken from the Dollar General store.
7. January 10, 2023 Lehigh Acres, Florida
Family Dollar at 3519 Lee Boulevard in Lee County on Monday, Oct. 17.
A suspect has been arrested for reportedly robbing a Family Dollar at 3519 Lee Boulevard in Lee County on Monday, Oct. 17.According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Raymond Bindas, a Family Dollar employee, said a man with his face covered came into the store demanding money from the register.The suspect went behind the counter, taking approximately $245 from the register and cigarettes. Meanwhile, Maliek Petit Homme, 21, from Immokalee, stayed by the door watching for anyone to enter the store.Later, Detective Rivera-Silva sent cigarette packs and other items the suspects may have touched testing, attempting to get a lead.Detectives got a lead and identified Homme as potentially the lookout.On Friday, January 6, 2023, Detective Rucker was notified that Homme was located due to an unrelated criminal investigation and was getting arrested.Homme was interviewed and made aware of the Family Dollar robbery and claimed he was an innocent bystander inside the store, having no involvement in the robbery at all. Homme denied knowing who the suspect was, claiming he was a stranger.Detective Rucker explained that based on witness statements, Homme was identified as the lookout.Homme clarified he and the suspect left simultaneously but in different directions after getting permission from the suspect.Then, Homme gave a conflicting story stating before he walked in, the suspect walked in before him and then demanded he act as a lookout while he robbed the store and threatened to kill him if he didn’t.Homme then changed his story for a third time claiming before entering the store, the suspect “appeared out of nowhere” on the sidewalk, demanding to be the lookout or he would kill him.A point to be aware of, Homme never attempted to contact law enforcement and make a report of the incident.
8. Jan 10, 2023 The Blackville Police Department (BPD)
Dollar General robbery to be an inside job and have arrested all individuals involved including a clerk and former employee.
Barnwell County Detention Center: Katovius Raheem Sincino, 26, of Blackville, was charged with armed robbery, possession of a firearm in a violent crime, and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.According to BPD, Sincino entered the store around 9:30 p.m. wearing a black leather jacket and khaki pants. He then pointed a black semi-automatic pistol at the clerk, Curtis Wayne Gilyard Jr., who was later found to be a part of the crime.“The employee and the other two conspired to rob the Dollar General while the employee was working. He was part of the plan,” said BPD Lieutenant Brian Gray.
Barnwell County Detention Center: Gilyard, 25, of Blackville, was charged with robbery and criminal conspiracy.While inside, Sincino took money from the drawer and the safe.
Barnwell County Detention Center: Also involved was former Blackville Dollar General employee Kyriek Dei’jon Kearse, 25 of Blackville. Kearse was charged with robbery and criminal conspiracy.A taskforce of BPD officers were assigned to look for these individuals after all three arrest warrants were obtained.Gilyard and Kearse were arrested on the afternoon of January 3 by BPD at the Hampton Apartments in Blackville.Sincino turned himself in the next day on January 4.“He actually came to the police station and turned himself in,” said BPD Captain Lee Huggins.All individuals have been released to Barnwell County Detention Center.BPD was unable to disclose any further details on the investigation.Hours before this robbery took place, the Dollar General in Hilda was robbed around 5 p.m. A gun was not brandished at the Hilda location and the robber did not steal any items as other customers began entering the store.
9. January 11, 2023 Fort Myers, FL
Authorities looking to identify person of interest in Dollar General robbery
Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers are looking for a man involved in a robbery that occurred at Dollar General on New York Dr. in Fort Myers.The man was last seen wearing a black Nike shirt with blue sleeves and dark joggers.
10. CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) January 12, 2023
78-year-old man dies from injuries after robbery in Clovis, family says
A 78-year-old Clovis man has died after being attacked and robbed while picking up the morning paper.The family of Frank Moore confirmed his death to Action News.Moore was known for stopping at the Dollar Tree at Herndon and Clovis to pick up a newspaper every morning.Witnesses in the area told Clovis police officers that Moore was attacked last month, hit over the head, and left lying on the ground.Officers say the suspect, now identified as 37-year-old Joseph Wright, took off with Moore's phone. Officials say because store employees gave a good description, they were able to track Wright down quickly in the area.Wright is facing five felony charges including battery, assault and elder abuse.Moore was hospitalized in critical condition for several days before dying from his injuries.
11. Jan 12, 2023 LUBBOCK, Texas
The Lubbock Police Department was investigating a robbery that occurred at a Dollar General store on 82nd Street Monday evening, according to a police report.According to the report, the victim was assisting a customer just before 10:00 p.m. when she saw the suspect from the corner of her eye. The report then said the suspect pointed a rifle at the victim’s face and demanded the cash from the till.The victim still had the drawer open and backed away. The suspect approached, took the property and left the scene, according to the report.The victim and another employee told everyone in the store to leave, closed and locked the front door, and called the police.
12. AMARILLO, Texas (KVII) January 13th 2023, 9:01 AM PST
Robbery Spree: Man robs Dollar General, Sonic at gunpoint, Amarillo police say
A man is accused of robbing a Dollar General and a Sonic at gunpoint.According to Amarillo police, a man robbed the Dollar General at 3412 South Georgia Street at 8:25 p.m. Thursday.The suspect, a black male wearing dark clothing and a blue bandana, pulled out a gun and demanded money. He then left the scene in what was described as a maroon sedan.While investigating the Dollar General robbery, police were called to a robbery at the Sonic located at 1714 South Western Street.At 9:23 p.m., someone matching the description of the suspect from the Dollar General robbery, entered the restaurant and pulled a gun on employees.He demanded money and then left the scene.
13. Jan, 13 2023 20:00 WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE)
Crime Stoppers: Armed robbery at south Wichita Dollar General
Wichita police need your help in catching an armed robber.Security video captured the suspect walking into the Dollar General at 1919 E Pawnee on January 13 at 8 p.m. The video shows the man in a raiders jacket with a green military-style bag.The video shows him walking through the store grabbing a few items. Then you can see the clerk lock the front door and walk away. Police say she locked the door because she saw the man shoplifting.
But as soon as the suspect gets to the locked door, he shows what police say is a gun."We encourage anyone to comply to their demands because no amount of property is worth your life," said Crime Stoppers Coordinator Trevor Macy.As soon as the clerk saw the gun, the video shows her unlocking the door for the suspect. He walks through, casually puts the gun back in his jack, and slowly walks away as if nothing had happened.Customers say this type of crime has to stop. Without this store, they would have nowhere close to shopping."They are trying to support us, customers,” said shopper Clarissa Holloway. “We can't just have people going around stealing."
14. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) January 14th 2023, 7:57 PM PST
— A woman approached the cashier to buy soda, and once the cash register drawer opened, she threatens to shoot the worker if she didn't give her all the money, police said. On Wednesday, a woman stole an unspecified amount of money from a Dollar General store in the 1500 block of Lockbourne Road.
Jan 15, 2023 Germantown Square, MD
GERMANTOWN DOLLAR STORE ARMED ROBBERY: ~10:45PM Sunday, Germantown Square Dollar General robbed at gunpoint (Great Seneca Hwy/Wisteria Drive in Germantown/MoCo, MD). Robber armed with handgun obtained an unknown sum of US Currency.
15. Jan. 16, 2023 at 4:38 PM PST CASPER, Wyoming
A suspect is wanted after committing two armed robberies Sunday night... and attempting a third.
(Wyoming News Now) - A suspect is wanted after committing two armed robberies Sunday night... and attempting a third. This all happened within a two hour span, roughly.At around 7:30 pm on Sunday, Casper Police says this suspect... Who they’re identifying as an unknown white male... Robbed the Family Dollar store on CY Avenue.At around 8:50 pm, while police were investigating that first robbery... He entered the Kum & Go convenience store at 15th and McKinley, but fled when other customers pulled into the parking lot.A store employee tells police the suspect appeared to be holding a gun in the pocket of his coat.Just minutes later, he robbed the Big D gas station on E 12th Street.At the two locations he successfully robbed, witnesses say he brandished a firearm, possibly a pistol.Casper
16. Monday, January 16, 2023 HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK)
Family Dollar store clerk shot by 1 of 3 robbery suspects in N. Houston, police said
A store clerk is expected to be OK after being shot by a robbery suspect in north Houston, police said.North Belt officers received a call on Monday at about 8:54 p.m. of a robbery at a Family Dollar in the 11000 block of Airline Drive.According to HPD, a hold-up alarm was set off after three suspects came in and held up the store with the clerk inside.The clerk was shot in the lower leg, and the three suspects fled on foot, police said.
17. 1/17/23 Petersburg, TN
On Saturday, January 15th, Marshall County Sheriff’s Department was dispatched to the Dollar General in Petersburg stating that a robbery had occurred
The dispatch described the suspect as a white male wearing tan coveralls with a black hoodie and a black mask. The suspect had run towards Church Street and several deputies from the Marshall County and Lincoln County Sherrif’s Departments had responded. Deputy Shelby of Marshall County was the first to arrive on scene and verified the Dollar General employee was safe and uninjured.
Deputies followed a lead and searched the property at 304 Church Street for the suspect who was not found. Deputies Newbill and Shelby went back to the Dollar General and obtained the written statement of events by Tammy Crowley. They obtained a video of the incident for the on-site cameras and Detective Captain Oliver assisted and spoke with the victim and witnesses. Three hundred and sixty-four dollars were stollen from the register. This is still an on-going investigation.
18. January 18th 2023, 2:16 PM PST ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla
A woman was robbed at gunpoint outside a Dollar General in Escambia County on Wednesday, according to deputies.The incident happened around 11 a.m. outside the Dollar General on Lillian Highway.The Escambia County Sheriff's Office responded for an armed robbery.A woman was reportedly walking to the store when a man on a bicycle approached her. Family of the victim says he asked her to buy him something, but she refused to. The man reportedly pulled a gun on the woman and robbed her of cash before getting away on his bike.The Escambia County Sheriff's Office is investigating.
19. LADSON, S.C. (WCBD) Jan 19, 2023 / 10:21 AM EST
An investigation is underway following an armed robbery that happened Thursday morning at a Dollar General store.
The incident happened around 8:30 a.m. Thursday when an armed male suspect entered the store located on Ladson Road, according to the Summerville Police Department.
20. Jan, 20, 2023 PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio
Dollar Tree employee assaulted while stopping shoplifters: Parma Heights Police Blotter
Assault: Olde York Road
On Jan. 20, police were dispatched to a Dollar Tree store on Olde York Road. The caller said two unruly customers had assaulted an employee.
21. January 20, 2023 San Antonio TX
San Antonio Dollar Tree installs noise machine to deter homeless, drawing criticism from neighbors
A loud noise is aggravating west-side neighbors, emanating from the Dollar Tree off Culebra and Zarzamora.
Our camera captured the piercing ring around 3:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon. But neighbors tell us it's even on during the night.
A manager at the Dollar Tree in question told KENS 5 they installed the sound machine for safety purposes. She said it's mainly women who work at the store, and they want to feel safe going to their cars after dark.
22. Jan 20, 2023 08:15 CARROLL COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV)
Three people were arrested in connection to an armed robbery in Blackhawk on Thursday, January 20.Officials with the Carroll Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility said law enforcement was called about the armed robbery around 8:15 a.m. Law enforcement responded to the scene and met the suspect as he was exiting the store. The armed suspect confronted a responding state trooper and ran away.
23. Friday, January 20, 2023 Cambridge, Nebraska
Sheriff: Employee clocked in, robbed store
Authorities are looking for two people who allegedly stole more than $5,000 in cash and cigarettes from the Dollar General Store in Cambridge and fled the state.The Valley Voice reported that a the theft was discovered Saturday morning when a vendor arrived to find the store closed.Furnas County Sheriff Doug Brown told the newspaper an employee of the store unlocked the door and even clocked in before she and an unidentified second party stole the cash and cigarettes, which amounts to a Class IIA felony.
24. ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. Jan 20, 2023
Family Dollar was robbed on Wednesday by an armed suspect who authorities believe is responsible for two other robberies.According to a press release from the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, at about 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 13, the Dollar General on Silvertown Road in Enfield was robbed. The suspect was described as a slim black male dressed in all black with his face hidden by a coat hood who entered the store and used a dark-colored handgun to rob the working employee.At about 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 14, the Subway restaurant located on West 10th Street in Roanoke Rapids was robbed, where the suspect was described as a nearly 6-foot-tall slim black male wearing all black with his face hidden with a coat hood. The assailant entered the building and used a dark-colored handgun to rob the employees. The press release reads the victims noticed another male subject outside looking out, but were unable to provide any identifying details about the person.The third robbery on Wednesday occurred at about 8:40 p.m. at the Family Dollar store on N.C. Highway 48 in Roanoke Rapids, according to the press release from the sheriff’s office. The suspect was described as a slim build black male dressed in all black with his face hidden by a coat hood and entered the store using a dark-colored handgun to rob employees.With the suspected linkage between the robberies, Guyant said law enforcement strongly encourages business owners to take precautions against armed assailants and theft.“Sadly, it is the world we live in,” he said. “By being prepared and having functioning video surveillance, we can get information to the public more efficiently and can hopefully deter future types of crimes. I do not want anyone to think they need to live in fear. We just want to stress that we should all be more vigilant, attentive, and alert of our surroundings. We have no way of knowing if these incidents will continue.”
25. Jan 20, 2023 Daytona Beach, Volusia county, FL
Man accused of robbing Dollar Tree, holding employees at gunpoint in Volusia County
A previously convicted felon is accused of robbing a Dollar Tree store in Daytona Beach Wednesday night.Howard Eady, 51, is charged with armed robbery and aggravated battery.Police say Eady, wearing a mask, went into the store on Beville Road just before closing, pointed a gun at two employees and forced them to take him into the office and open the safe.At one point, police say he grabbed one employee by the arm and shoved another with the gun, but the employees were otherwise not hurt.Police say Eady grabbed money from the safe and took off.He was arrested the next day.
26. EMORY, Texas (KETK) Jan 22, 2023
Alleged Dollar General burglary under investigation in Rains County
Rains County Sheriff’s Office announced they are investigating a suspected Sunday morning burglary from a Dollar General store in Emory.
27. LELAND, N.C. (WECT) Jan. 22, 2023, at 11:23 AM PST
The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office has announced that a suspect is in custody following an armed robbery that took place at a Family Dollar in Leland on Jan. 22.The incident happened around 1 p.m. at the Family Dollar on Lanvale Road in Leland.
28. Nashville Tennessee January 23, 2023 (7 robberies)
An investigation spanning nearly a month into a series of armed robberies at Nashville area dollar stores culminated Sunday night with the arrest of ex-con Terrance Turner, 43, who, through surveillance, was taken into custody shortly after robbing Dollar Tree at 2806 Smith Springs Road.
Dollar General, 2275 Murfreesboro Pike, January 2
Dollar General, 2214 Hobson Pike, January 4
Dollar Tree, 2806 Smith Springs Road, January 5
Dollar General, 3803 October Woods Drive, January 10
Dollar General, 2275 Murfreesboro Pike, January 12
Dollar Tree, 2806 Smith Springs Road, January 22
29. January 23rd, 2023, 10:40 AM PST Thomasville, N.C.
Thomasville Dollar General Robbed for Third Time
THOMASVILLE, N.C. — Public help is needed for Thomasville Police in finding the suspect from a Dollar General robbery on Saturday night.Around 9:00 p.m., Police were called to an armed robbery at the 1602 Lexington Avenue location. Employees told police a man with a gun entered the store, went to the counter, and demanded money. The suspect then fled on foot with an unknown amount of cash.A customer who witnessed the robbery followed the suspect out of the store and through the parking lot. After a short verbal exchange between the customer and suspect, the suspect shot once and continued to escape. No injuries or damages were reported. A police K9 pursuit proved to be unsuccessful.Police believe this robbery is connected to the December 10 robbery from the same location. The suspect, dressed in the same clothing, entered the store around 9:00 p.m. and demanded money. The suspect was last seen fleeing on foot with an unknown amount of cash.
30. Jan 23, 2023 ST. MARTIN, Miss. (WLOX)
New details are being released surrounding an armed robbery that led to a three-county pursuit.Celeste Sellers is held on charges of armed robbery, providing false information to a police officer, felony fleeing and reckless driving.According to Hancock County Sheriff Ricky Adam, Sellers held two employees at gunpoint at a Dollar General on Highway 43 near North Benville Road.
31. Friday, January 24, 2023 Detroit, MI.
WATCH: Democratic-ruled Detroit sees 20 different dollar stores robbed in 22 days
Dollar stores are easy prey for armed criminals, according to White.
Since the start of the new year, at least 20 dollar store locations in the Motor City have been robbed, Detroit Police Department Chief James White said Monday.
“We are confident that the person that we are bringing charges on, which we already have in custody, but we’re waiting on the warrant to be signed, is good for multiple robberies,” White said.Out of the 20 dollar stores that have been robbed, Local 4 learned that 18 of them were Family Dollar stores that were targeted because the robber was exploiting a security flaw within their stores.“Get some cameras and make sure they’re pointed right at the entry point,” White said. “Get faces so that we can get these persons off of the street.”
32. NASHVILLE, Tenn. Jan. 24, 2023 at 6:19 AM
Metro Nashville Police arrested a woman on Monday for allegedly robbing a Dollar General store at gunpoint in Nashville.According to the arrest affidavit, two employees observed 29-year-old Tiffany Mendez walk into their store on Monday with her two young children. They told police that Mendez asked to use the store’s bathroom, and when she was told it was not for public use, she walked to the back of the store and “used the bathroom on the floor.”Upon discovering what happened, the employees told Mendez to leave, took her merchandise, and placed it behind the counter. Mendez forced her way behind the counter and managed to steal one baby doll before exiting the store with her children.Moments later, Mendez returned without her children but now had a black handgun and pointed it at the employees while making her way behind the counter to retrieve the items. She then fled the scene in a vehicle.The employees alerted the store manager during the incident, who arrived just as Mendez was fleeing the scene. The manager followed her vehicle to a residence on Connare Drive in.Madison, where police placed her under arrest.After resisting arrest, Mendez was taken into custody after being positively identified by the employees and video surveillance from the store.
33. Jan. 25, 2023, 12:38 p.m SAGINAW, MI
Man tracked through snow after Saginaw Family Dollar robbery charged with life offense
Just after 9 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 22, Saginaw police responded to a reported robbery at the Family Dollar at 3220 Sheridan Ave., according to Detective Sgt. Matthew Gerow. A male clerk told officers he had stepped out of the door and saw a man apparently sleeping on the south side of the property.The clerk went back inside and returned to the register. Shortly thereafter, the man he had seen sleeping entered as well, came up behind him, and pressed something against his head, Gerow said. Police allege this man was Henderson.Henderson began yelling for the clerk to open the store’s safe. The clerk was unable to open the safe, at which point his assailant pushed him into an employee office. The clerk then saw the man run from the store, carrying merchandise, Gerow said.The suspect did not manage to get any cash from the safe or register, Gerow added.Officers established a perimeter around the store, with Officer Irvin Ward using K-9 Denver to track the robber through the fresh snow. The track led to the backdoor of a residence several blocks away.
34. Jan 25, 2023 Wichita, KS
The Dollar General employee spotted an armed man approaching the store at 2020 E**.** 21st St**. at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday and locked the doors before he could**
35. Milledgeville, GA Jan 28, 2023
A man riding a bicycle has been arrested for reportedly robbing a Milledgeville business at knifepoint, local authorities say.Police arrested the suspect shortly after the crime happened.The robbery happened about 9:15 p.m. on Jan. 19 at the Dollar General store, located on Roberson Mill Road, according to an incident report filed by Milledgeville Police Department Officer Lane Aultman.A man fitting the description of the suspect provided by the store clerk was spotted by an officer riding a bicycle with a pair of knives in his hands, Aultman said.The suspect was later identified as Jadarrus McDowell. He was detained and placed into the backseat of a patrol car and driven back to the Dollar General.McDowell was charged with armed robbery and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime.After his arrest, the suspect was taken to the Baldwin County Law Enforcement Center and jailed.The store clerk said the man entered the store and walked to the back.When the suspect walked back up to the front of the store, the clerk said he dropped a pair of gloves, valued at $5.Aultman said the clerk asked the man if he was going to pay for the gloves as he was walking out the front doors of the store.The clerk said the man turned toward her and brandished a knife, Aultman said in his report.He reportedly pointed the knife at the clerk and said, “I’m taking this,” before he left the store.
36. Jan 29, 2023 Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee security guard attacked, shot on the job by alleged robber
Blindsided, beaten and shot, a Family Dollar security guard is talking about the night he almost died on the job.David Chapel-Stoltz is grateful for every step after nearly losing his life last month."I just remember being on the ground and having a spiritual moment," said Chapel-Stoltz. Chapel-Stoltz said he was working security at the Family Dollar near 35th and Garfield when he was attacked on Jan. 29. The attacker blindsided him."I just saw black. I saw black because I got hit in the face with a crowbar," Chapel-Stoltz said. "He ended up taking my own gun and shooting me with my own gun, and then they robbed the Family Dollar**."**
37. Jan 30, 2023 at 6:15 PM Milwaukee, WI
Police are investigating an armed robbery of a Family Dollar near 60th and Silver Spring around 6:15 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30.Unknown suspects entered the business fired shots, demanded and obtained property.
38. Jan. 30, 2023 at 11:48 AM PST AKRON, Ohio (WOIO)
Detectives are asking for the community’s help in identifying a man who robbed a Family Dollar on Saturday night.Police say officers responded to the Family Dollar located at the 900 block of South Arlington Street around 8:30 p.m. where they met with the clerk of the store.According to the employee, the suspect was seen stuffing electronic products into his pockets.Police say the suspect flashed a handgun and threatened the manager before leaving the store.The suspect was last seen getting into a dark-colored vehicle that was headed northbound out of the parking lot after the robbery, police say.
39. January 31, 2023 at 11:53 pm Brockton, Massachusetts
1 Dead in Double Shooting at Dollar Tree Store in Brockton
Two people were shot, one fatally, at a Dollar Tree store in Brockton, Massachusetts, on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.Both of the victims were rushed to local hospitals from the store at 999 North Montello Street, which is also Route 28, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said. Both were shot inside the store.Brockton police said one of the people had died. Police didn't immediately say if anyone was in custody in connection with the shooting.Surveillance video shows someone walking into Dollar Tree on North Montello Street Tuesday afternoon. Moments later, several people can be seen running out of the store.After less than a minute, the person who had walked in can be seen leaving the store and taking off.Lisa Dower lives right across the street and came outside when she heard multiple police cars arriving. She saw one of the victims, who had managed to make it to the street."The gentleman was lying on the sidewalk," she said. "At first, he wasn't moving. I was scared for him, and then I saw his arms moving."He was rushed to the hospital."When they put him on the gurney, I noticed blood around part of his leg," said Dower.A bullet hole could be seen in a front window.Investigators haven't said if the victims were shoppers or employees. Nearby residents who shop at the Dollar Tree often spoke highly of the workers."They're very helpful," said Alexander Williams. "They go out of their way, they're not aggravating, they're not impatient, they're doing their job, trying to make it like the rest of us out here."A spokesperson for Dollar Tree released a brief statement Tuesday night."We are aware of the tragic incident at our store in Brockton, MA (N. Montello St. location) this afternoon and are actively assisting law enforcement with their investigation. Our hearts go out to the victims of this horrible crime."The part of the city where the shooting occurred is a busy area with multiple other businesses, including an Advance Auto Parts next door and a Stop & Shop grocery store located across the street.
40. Jan 31, 2023 Lacy Lakeview, TX
101 N Lacy Drive
Lacy Lakeview police are looking for a man who robbed a store late Sunday while wearing a gold skull Halloween mask.
The man used a firearm to rob a Dollar General at about 10 p.m. Sunday, according to a Lacy Lakeview Police Department Facebook post. In addition to the mask, the man wore all-black clothing, and he is 5 feet, 10 inches to 6 feet tall, according to the post.
Police ask that anyone with information that could lead to an arrest in the robbery contact them and refer to case No. 23-0070.

1. Jan 1, 2023 MAYFIELD, KY (WSIL)
The Graves County Sheriff's Office is investigating an armed robbery that occurred last night.According to a post on the office's Facebook page, the robbery happened on Saturday, December 31 at around 9:44 p.m. An older woman walked into the Dollar General located at 3854 Hwy 45 North in Mayfield, KY. The woman took out a gun and proceeded to rob the store.
2. UPPER SANDUSKY, Ohio (WTVG) Jan. 1, 2023 at 3:58 PM PST
A man is accused of murdering a Dollar Tree employee with a machete inside an Upper Sandusky, Ohio store on New Year’s Day, the city’s police chief told 13abc. Officers received a call around 4:25 p.m. Sunday for a man waving a weapon around inside the store. He left before officers got there, according to Upper Sandusky Police Chief Jared Lucas. Officers later located the suspect, Bethel M. Bekele, 27, on the 100 block of South Fifth Street and arrested him.
3. Jan. 1, 2023 at 12:06 PM PST
\Duplicate* in Mayfield Case* GRAVES COUNTY, KY (KFVS)
Mayfield woman was arrested in connection with an armed robbery at Dollar General in January.
Ruby May Turner, 61, was arrested on a charge of first-degree robbery.She was taken to an out-of-county detention facility.According to the Graves County Sheriff’s Office, an armed robbery was reported at 9:44 p.m. on December 31.Employees told investigators that an older woman had entered the store armed with a pistol and demanding money. She was wearing a partial mask during the robbery.
3. Jan 2, 2023 Monroe, Louisiana
A Dollar General store clerk in Monroe has been arrested and charged with manslaughter after shooting an alleged armed robber, according to the Monroe Police Department.Police responded to the shooting at the Dollar General at 711 South 8th Street on Monday, January 2, 2023.According to arrest records, there was an armed robbery at the store and a store clerk shot at the suspect. However, at some point, a customer was shot as well.The suspected armed robber was found outside of the store lying in the money he allegedly had taken. He would later die from his injuries.The customer who was shot was taken to a local hospital where they were treated and later released.
4. January 4th 2023 TULSA, Okla. (KTUL)
2 women arrested for alleged robbery at north Tulsa Family Dollar
The Tulsa Police Department arrested two women for allegedly robbing a Family Dollar.On Jan. 3, just before 2 p.m., officers responded to a robbery call at the Family Dollar near Admiral and Harvard.Employees told police that two women entered the store, grabbed multiple clothing items, and attempted to leave.The women were later identified as Deshanon Washington and Markeasha Norman. When employees attempted to stop them, Washington appeared to have a weapon and threatened to shoot the employee.Witnesses and employees reported the two left in a red Dodge pickup truck.With help from FLOCK Safety System, TPD was able to track down the truck about an hour-and-a-half later near Peoria and East 51st Street North.Washington and Norman were taken into custody during a traffic stop.Police say stolen sweatpants were found inside the truck and Washington had fentanyl pills inside her purse.Norman and Washington were arrested for robbery by force or fear and Washington was also arrested for drug possession.
5. January 5, 2023 4:07pm Brooklyn, NY
at a Dollar Tree located at 679 Van Sinderen Avenue in East New York.
NYC Dollar Tree worker shot during attempted robbery, cops say
A worker was shot by a would-be thief at a Dollar Tree in Brooklyn — just hours after an employee at a Manhattan smoke shop was struck in the back during a possible attempted robbery, police said. The male employee was blasted once in the left leg inside the store on Van Sinderen Avenue near New Lots Avenue in East New York around 8:40 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said. He was taken to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.The suspect – who fled after the shooting and was still on the loose Thursday – wore camouflage clothing, cops said. The incident came just hours after a Lower East Side smoke shop worker was also shot during a possible attempted robbery, authorities said.Three armed suspects entered Exotic Convenience at 79 Clinton St. around 6:40 p.m. as one of the men opened fire, striking the employee in the lower back, police said.
6. Jan. 6, 2023 at 1:31 PM PST PUEBLO, Colo. (KKTV)
Man suspected of dressing as a woman after robbing a Colorado Dollar General, police say
A man is suspected of robbing a Dollar General in Pueblo before going across the street and dressing as a woman, according to Pueblo Police.The incident was reported on Wednesday at about 8:50 a.m. when officers were called to the store in the 2400 block of S. Prairie Ave. The store is west of Lake Minnequa. Police are reporting surveillance video showed a man wearing a black hoodie along with a black and red flannel shirt robbing the store before running across the street to the Pueblo Village Apartments.“Officers responded to the apartments and watched surveillance there, where they were able to determine the suspect did run into an apartment on the property,” part of a news release from Pueblo Police reads. “A perimeter was set up and contact was made at that apartment. The resident of the apartment gave officers consent to search the apartment where they contacted a total of six individuals inside. One of those individuals was identified as Brandon Hoskins who, at the time of contact, was dressed as a woman to include wearing a wig, camisole, and padded bra. During the search, officers found clothes matching those the suspect wore, to include the flannel shirt. In the pants of the clothing, officers found Hoskins’ wallet which had his ID. One of the other occupants of the apartment had a large number of bills in denominations matching those taken from the Dollar General store.
7. January 10, 2023 Lehigh Acres, Florida
Family Dollar at 3519 Lee Boulevard in Lee County on Monday, Oct. 17.
A suspect has been arrested for reportedly robbing a Family Dollar at 3519 Lee Boulevard in Lee County on Monday, Oct. 17.According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Raymond Bindas, a Family Dollar employee, said a man with his face covered came into the store demanding money from the register.The suspect went behind the counter, taking approximately $245 from the register and cigarettes. Meanwhile, Maliek Petit Homme, 21, from Immokalee, stayed by the door watching for anyone to enter the store.Later, Detective Rivera-Silva sent cigarette packs and other items the suspects may have touched testing, attempting to get a lead.Detectives got a lead and identified Homme as potentially the lookout.On Friday, January 6, 2023, Detective Rucker was notified that Homme was located due to an unrelated criminal investigation and was getting arrested.Homme was interviewed and made aware of the Family Dollar robbery and claimed he was an innocent bystander inside the store, having no involvement in the robbery at all. Homme denied knowing who the suspect was, claiming he was a stranger.Detective Rucker explained that based on witness statements, Homme was identified as the lookout.Homme clarified he and the suspect left simultaneously but in different directions after getting permission from the suspect.Then, Homme gave a conflicting story stating before he walked in, the suspect walked in before him and then demanded he act as a lookout while he robbed the store and threatened to kill him if he didn’t.Homme then changed his story for a third time claiming before entering the store, the suspect “appeared out of nowhere” on the sidewalk, demanding to be the lookout or he would kill him.A point to be aware of, Homme never attempted to contact law enforcement and make a report of the incident.
8. Jan 10, 2023 The Blackville Police Department (BPD)
Dollar General robbery to be an inside job and have arrested all individuals involved including a clerk and former employee.
Barnwell County Detention Center: Katovius Raheem Sincino, 26, of Blackville, was charged with armed robbery, possession of a firearm in a violent crime, and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.According to BPD, Sincino entered the store around 9:30 p.m. wearing a black leather jacket and khaki pants. He then pointed a black semi-automatic pistol at the clerk, Curtis Wayne Gilyard Jr., who was later found to be a part of the crime.“The employee and the other two conspired to rob the Dollar General while the employee was working. He was part of the plan,” said BPD Lieutenant Brian Gray.
Barnwell County Detention Center: Gilyard, 25, of Blackville, was charged with robbery and criminal conspiracy.While inside, Sincino took money from the drawer and the safe.
Barnwell County Detention Center: Also involved was former Blackville Dollar General employee Kyriek Dei’jon Kearse, 25 of Blackville. Kearse was charged with robbery and criminal conspiracy.A taskforce of BPD officers were assigned to look for these individuals after all three arrest warrants were obtained.Gilyard and Kearse were arrested on the afternoon of January 3 by BPD at the Hampton Apartments in Blackville.Sincino turned himself in the next day on January 4.“He actually came to the police station and turned himself in,” said BPD Captain Lee Huggins.All individuals have been released to Barnwell County Detention Center.BPD was unable to disclose any further details on the investigation.Hours before this robbery took place, the Dollar General in Hilda was robbed around 5 p.m. A gun was not brandished at the Hilda location and the robber did not steal any items as other customers began entering the store.
9. January 11, 2023 Fort Myers, FL

Authorities looking to identify person of interest in Dollar General robbery

Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers are looking for a man involved in a robbery that occurred at Dollar General on New York Dr. in Fort Myers.The man was last seen wearing a black Nike shirt with blue sleeves and dark joggers.
10. CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) January 12, 2023
78-year-old man dies from injuries after robbery in Clovis, family says
A 78-year-old Clovis man has died after being attacked and robbed while picking up the morning paper.The family of Frank Moore confirmed his death to Action News.Moore was known for stopping at the Dollar Tree at Herndon and Clovis to pick up a newspaper every morning.Witnesses in the area told Clovis police officers that Moore was attacked last month, hit over the head, and left lying on the ground.Officers say the suspect, now identified as 37-year-old Joseph Wright, took off with Moore's phone. Officials say because store employees gave a good description, they were able to track Wright down quickly in the area.Wright is facing five felony charges including battery, assault and elder abuse.Moore was hospitalized in critical condition for several days before dying from his injuries.
11. Jan 12, 2023 LUBBOCK, Texas
The Lubbock Police Department was investigating a robbery that occurred at a Dollar General store on 82nd Street Monday evening, according to a police report.According to the report, the victim was assisting a customer just before 10:00 p.m. when she saw the suspect from the corner of her eye. The report then said the suspect pointed a rifle at the victim’s face and demanded the cash from the till.The victim still had the drawer open and backed away. The suspect approached, took the property and left the scene, according to the report.The victim and another employee told everyone in the store to leave, closed and locked the front door, and called the police.
12. AMARILLO, Texas (KVII) January 13th 2023, 9:01 AM PST
Robbery Spree: Man robs Dollar General, Sonic at gunpoint, Amarillo police say
A man is accused of robbing a Dollar General and a Sonic at gunpoint.According to Amarillo police, a man robbed the Dollar General at 3412 South Georgia Street at 8:25 p.m. Thursday.The suspect, a black male wearing dark clothing and a blue bandana, pulled out a gun and demanded money. He then left the scene in what was described as a maroon sedan.While investigating the Dollar General robbery, police were called to a robbery at the Sonic located at 1714 South Western Street.At 9:23 p.m., someone matching the description of the suspect from the Dollar General robbery, entered the restaurant and pulled a gun on employees.He demanded money and then left the scene.
13. Jan, 13 2023 20:00 WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE)
Crime Stoppers: Armed robbery at south Wichita Dollar General
Wichita police need your help in catching an armed robber.Security video captured the suspect walking into the Dollar General at 1919 E Pawnee on January 13 at 8 p.m. The video shows the man in a raiders jacket with a green military-style bag.The video shows him walking through the store grabbing a few items. Then you can see the clerk lock the front door and walk away. Police say she locked the door because she saw the man shoplifting.
But as soon as the suspect gets to the locked door, he shows what police say is a gun."We encourage anyone to comply to their demands because no amount of property is worth your life," said Crime Stoppers Coordinator Trevor Macy.As soon as the clerk saw the gun, the video shows her unlocking the door for the suspect. He walks through, casually puts the gun back in his jack, and slowly walks away as if nothing had happened.Customers say this type of crime has to stop. Without this store, they would have nowhere close to shopping."They are trying to support us, customers,” said shopper Clarissa Holloway. “We can't just have people going around stealing."
14. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) January 14th 2023, 7:57 PM PST
— A woman approached the cashier to buy soda, and once the cash register drawer opened, she threatens to shoot the worker if she didn't give her all the money, police said. On Wednesday, a woman stole an unspecified amount of money from a Dollar General store in the 1500 block of Lockbourne Road.
Jan 15, 2023 Germantown Square, MD
GERMANTOWN DOLLAR STORE ARMED ROBBERY: ~10:45PM Sunday, Germantown Square Dollar General robbed at gunpoint (Great Seneca Hwy/Wisteria Drive in Germantown/MoCo, MD). Robber armed with handgun obtained an unknown sum of US Currency.
15. Jan. 16, 2023 at 4:38 PM PST CASPER, Wyoming
A suspect is wanted after committing two armed robberies Sunday night... and attempting a third.
(Wyoming News Now) - A suspect is wanted after committing two armed robberies Sunday night... and attempting a third. This all happened within a two hour span, roughly.At around 7:30 pm on Sunday, Casper Police says this suspect... Who they’re identifying as an unknown white male... Robbed the Family Dollar store on CY Avenue.At around 8:50 pm, while police were investigating that first robbery... He entered the Kum & Go convenience store at 15th and McKinley, but fled when other customers pulled into the parking lot.A store employee tells police the suspect appeared to be holding a gun in the pocket of his coat.Just minutes later, he robbed the Big D gas station on E 12th Street.At the two locations he successfully robbed, witnesses say he brandished a firearm, possibly a pistol.Casper
16. Monday, January 16, 2023 HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK)
Family Dollar store clerk shot by 1 of 3 robbery suspects in N. Houston, police said
A store clerk is expected to be OK after being shot by a robbery suspect in north Houston, police said.North Belt officers received a call on Monday at about 8:54 p.m. of a robbery at a Family Dollar in the 11000 block of Airline Drive.According to HPD, a hold-up alarm was set off after three suspects came in and held up the store with the clerk inside.The clerk was shot in the lower leg, and the three suspects fled on foot, police said.
17. 1/17/23 Petersburg, TN
On Saturday, January 15th, Marshall County Sheriff’s Department was dispatched to the Dollar General in Petersburg stating that a robbery had occurred
The dispatch described the suspect as a white male wearing tan coveralls with a black hoodie and a black mask. The suspect had run towards Church Street and several deputies from the Marshall County and Lincoln County Sherrif’s Departments had responded. Deputy Shelby of Marshall County was the first to arrive on scene and verified the Dollar General employee was safe and uninjured.
Deputies followed a lead and searched the property at 304 Church Street for the suspect who was not found. Deputies Newbill and Shelby went back to the Dollar General and obtained the written statement of events by Tammy Crowley. They obtained a video of the incident for the on-site cameras and Detective Captain Oliver assisted and spoke with the victim and witnesses. Three hundred and sixty-four dollars were stollen from the register. This is still an on-going investigation.
18. January 18th 2023, 2:16 PM PST ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla
A woman was robbed at gunpoint outside a Dollar General in Escambia County on Wednesday, according to deputies.The incident happened around 11 a.m. outside the Dollar General on Lillian Highway.The Escambia County Sheriff's Office responded for an armed robbery.A woman was reportedly walking to the store when a man on a bicycle approached her. Family of the victim says he asked her to buy him something, but she refused to. The man reportedly pulled a gun on the woman and robbed her of cash before getting away on his bike.The Escambia County Sheriff's Office is investigating.
19. LADSON, S.C. (WCBD) Jan 19, 2023 / 10:21 AM EST
An investigation is underway following an armed robbery that happened Thursday morning at a Dollar General store.
The incident happened around 8:30 a.m. Thursday when an armed male suspect entered the store located on Ladson Road, according to the Summerville Police Department.
20. Jan, 20, 2023 PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio

Dollar Tree employee assaulted while stopping shoplifters: Parma Heights Police Blotter

Assault: Olde York Road
On Jan. 20, police were dispatched to a Dollar Tree store on Olde York Road. The caller said two unruly customers had assaulted an employee.
21. January 20, 2023 San Antonio TX

San Antonio Dollar Tree installs noise machine to deter homeless, drawing criticism from neighbors

A loud noise is aggravating west-side neighbors, emanating from the Dollar Tree off Culebra and Zarzamora.
Our camera captured the piercing ring around 3:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon. But neighbors tell us it's even on during the night.
A manager at the Dollar Tree in question told KENS 5 they installed the sound machine for safety purposes. She said it's mainly women who work at the store, and they want to feel safe going to their cars after dark.
22. Jan 20, 2023 08:15 CARROLL COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV)
Three people were arrested in connection to an armed robbery in Blackhawk on Thursday, January 20.Officials with the Carroll Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility said law enforcement was called about the armed robbery around 8:15 a.m. Law enforcement responded to the scene and met the suspect as he was exiting the store. The armed suspect confronted a responding state trooper and ran away.
23. Friday, January 20, 2023 Cambridge, Nebraska
Sheriff: Employee clocked in, robbed store
Authorities are looking for two people who allegedly stole more than $5,000 in cash and cigarettes from the Dollar General Store in Cambridge and fled the state.The Valley Voice reported that a the theft was discovered Saturday morning when a vendor arrived to find the store closed.Furnas County Sheriff Doug Brown told the newspaper an employee of the store unlocked the door and even clocked in before she and an unidentified second party stole the cash and cigarettes, which amounts to a Class IIA felony.
24. ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. Jan 20, 2023
Family Dollar was robbed on Wednesday by an armed suspect who authorities believe is responsible for two other robberies.According to a press release from the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, at about 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 13, the Dollar General on Silvertown Road in Enfield was robbed. The suspect was described as a slim black male dressed in all black with his face hidden by a coat hood who entered the store and used a dark-colored handgun to rob the working employee.At about 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 14, the Subway restaurant located on West 10th Street in Roanoke Rapids was robbed, where the suspect was described as a nearly 6-foot-tall slim black male wearing all black with his face hidden with a coat hood. The assailant entered the building and used a dark-colored handgun to rob the employees. The press release reads the victims noticed another male subject outside looking out, but were unable to provide any identifying details about the person.The third robbery on Wednesday occurred at about 8:40 p.m. at the Family Dollar store on N.C. Highway 48 in Roanoke Rapids, according to the press release from the sheriff’s office. The suspect was described as a slim build black male dressed in all black with his face hidden by a coat hood and entered the store using a dark-colored handgun to rob employees.With the suspected linkage between the robberies, Guyant said law enforcement strongly encourages business owners to take precautions against armed assailants and theft.“Sadly, it is the world we live in,” he said. “By being prepared and having functioning video surveillance, we can get information to the public more efficiently and can hopefully deter future types of crimes. I do not want anyone to think they need to live in fear. We just want to stress that we should all be more vigilant, attentive, and alert of our surroundings. We have no way of knowing if these incidents will continue.”
25. Jan 20, 2023 Daytona Beach, Volusia county, FL

Man accused of robbing Dollar Tree, holding employees at gunpoint in Volusia County

A previously convicted felon is accused of robbing a Dollar Tree store in Daytona Beach Wednesday night.Howard Eady, 51, is charged with armed robbery and aggravated battery.Police say Eady, wearing a mask, went into the store on Beville Road just before closing, pointed a gun at two employees and forced them to take him into the office and open the safe.At one point, police say he grabbed one employee by the arm and shoved another with the gun, but the employees were otherwise not hurt.Police say Eady grabbed money from the safe and took off.He was arrested the next day.
26. EMORY, Texas (KETK) Jan 22, 2023
Alleged Dollar General burglary under investigation in Rains County
Rains County Sheriff’s Office announced they are investigating a suspected Sunday morning burglary from a Dollar General store in Emory.
27. LELAND, N.C. (WECT) Jan. 22, 2023, at 11:23 AM PST
The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office has announced that a suspect is in custody following an armed robbery that took place at a Family Dollar in Leland on Jan. 22.The incident happened around 1 p.m. at the Family Dollar on Lanvale Road in Leland.
28. Nashville Tennessee January 23, 2023 (7 robberies)
An investigation spanning nearly a month into a series of armed robberies at Nashville area dollar stores culminated Sunday night with the arrest of ex-con Terrance Turner, 43, who, through surveillance, was taken into custody shortly after robbing Dollar Tree at 2806 Smith Springs Road.
Dollar General, 2275 Murfreesboro Pike, January 2
Dollar General, 2214 Hobson Pike, January 4
Dollar Tree, 2806 Smith Springs Road, January 5
Dollar General, 3803 October Woods Drive, January 10
Dollar General, 2275 Murfreesboro Pike, January 12
Dollar Tree, 2806 Smith Springs Road, January 22
29. January 23rd, 2023, 10:40 AM PST Thomasville, N.C.
Thomasville Dollar General Robbed for Third Time
THOMASVILLE, N.C. — Public help is needed for Thomasville Police in finding the suspect from a Dollar General robbery on Saturday night.Around 9:00 p.m., Police were called to an armed robbery at the 1602 Lexington Avenue location. Employees told police a man with a gun entered the store, went to the counter, and demanded money. The suspect then fled on foot with an unknown amount of cash.A customer who witnessed the robbery followed the suspect out of the store and through the parking lot. After a short verbal exchange between the customer and suspect, the suspect shot once and continued to escape. No injuries or damages were reported. A police K9 pursuit proved to be unsuccessful.Police believe this robbery is connected to the December 10 robbery from the same location. The suspect, dressed in the same clothing, entered the store around 9:00 p.m. and demanded money. The suspect was last seen fleeing on foot with an unknown amount of cash.
30. Jan 23, 2023 ST. MARTIN, Miss. (WLOX)
New details are being released surrounding an armed robbery that led to a three-county pursuit.Celeste Sellers is held on charges of armed robbery, providing false information to a police officer, felony fleeing and reckless driving.According to Hancock County Sheriff Ricky Adam, Sellers held two employees at gunpoint at a Dollar General on Highway 43 near North Benville Road.
31. Friday, January 24, 2023 Detroit, MI.
WATCH: Democratic-ruled Detroit sees 20 different dollar stores robbed in 22 days
Dollar stores are easy prey for armed criminals, according to White.
Since the start of the new year, at least 20 dollar store locations in the Motor City have been robbed, Detroit Police Department Chief James White said Monday.
“We are confident that the person that we are bringing charges on, which we already have in custody, but we’re waiting on the warrant to be signed, is good for multiple robberies,” White said.Out of the 20 dollar stores that have been robbed, Local 4 learned that 18 of them were Family Dollar stores that were targeted because the robber was exploiting a security flaw within their stores.“Get some cameras and make sure they’re pointed right at the entry point,” White said. “Get faces so that we can get these persons off of the street.”
32. NASHVILLE, Tenn. Jan. 24, 2023 at 6:19 AM
Metro Nashville Police arrested a woman on Monday for allegedly robbing a Dollar General store at gunpoint in Nashville.According to the arrest affidavit, two employees observed 29-year-old Tiffany Mendez walk into their store on Monday with her two young children. They told police that Mendez asked to use the store’s bathroom, and when she was told it was not for public use, she walked to the back of the store and “used the bathroom on the floor.”Upon discovering what happened, the employees told Mendez to leave, took her merchandise, and placed it behind the counter. Mendez forced her way behind the counter and managed to steal one baby doll before exiting the store with her children.Moments later, Mendez returned without her children but now had a black handgun and pointed it at the employees while making her way behind the counter to retrieve the items. She then fled the scene in a vehicle.The employees alerted the store manager during the incident, who arrived just as Mendez was fleeing the scene. The manager followed her vehicle to a residence on Connare Drive in.Madison, where police placed her under arrest.After resisting arrest, Mendez was taken into custody after being positively identified by the employees and video surveillance from the store.
33. Jan. 25, 2023, 12:38 p.m SAGINAW, MI
Man tracked through snow after Saginaw Family Dollar robbery charged with life offense
Just after 9 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 22, Saginaw police responded to a reported robbery at the Family Dollar at 3220 Sheridan Ave., according to Detective Sgt. Matthew Gerow. A male clerk told officers he had stepped out of the door and saw a man apparently sleeping on the south side of the property.The clerk went back inside and returned to the register. Shortly thereafter, the man he had seen sleeping entered as well, came up behind him, and pressed something against his head, Gerow said. Police allege this man was Henderson.Henderson began yelling for the clerk to open the store’s safe. The clerk was unable to open the safe, at which point his assailant pushed him into an employee office. The clerk then saw the man run from the store, carrying merchandise, Gerow said.The suspect did not manage to get any cash from the safe or register, Gerow added.Officers established a perimeter around the store, with Officer Irvin Ward using K-9 Denver to track the robber through the fresh snow. The track led to the backdoor of a residence several blocks away.
34. Jan 25, 2023 Wichita, KS
The Dollar General employee spotted an armed man approaching the store at 2020 E. 21st St. at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday and locked the doors before he could
35. Milledgeville, GA Jan 28, 2023
A man riding a bicycle has been arrested for reportedly robbing a Milledgeville business at knifepoint, local authorities say.Police arrested the suspect shortly after the crime happened.The robbery happened about 9:15 p.m. on Jan. 19 at the Dollar General store, located on Roberson Mill Road, according to an incident report filed by Milledgeville Police Department Officer Lane Aultman.A man fitting the description of the suspect provided by the store clerk was spotted by an officer riding a bicycle with a pair of knives in his hands, Aultman said.The suspect was later identified as Jadarrus McDowell. He was detained and placed into the backseat of a patrol car and driven back to the Dollar General.McDowell was charged with armed robbery and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime.After his arrest, the suspect was taken to the Baldwin County Law Enforcement Center and jailed.The store clerk said the man entered the store and walked to the back.When the suspect walked back up to the front of the store, the clerk said he dropped a pair of gloves, valued at $5.Aultman said the clerk asked the man if he was going to pay for the gloves as he was walking out the front doors of the store.The clerk said the man turned toward her and brandished a knife, Aultman said in his report.He reportedly pointed the knife at the clerk and said, “I’m taking this,” before he left the store.
36. Jan 29, 2023 Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee security guard attacked, shot on the job by alleged robber
Blindsided, beaten and shot, a Family Dollar security guard is talking about the night he almost died on the job.David Chapel-Stoltz is grateful for every step after nearly losing his life last month."I just remember being on the ground and having a spiritual moment," said Chapel-Stoltz. Chapel-Stoltz said he was working security at the Family Dollar near 35th and Garfield when he was attacked on Jan. 29. The attacker blindsided him."I just saw black. I saw black because I got hit in the face with a crowbar," Chapel-Stoltz said. "He ended up taking my own gun and shooting me with my own gun, and then they robbed the Family Dollar."
37. Jan 30, 2023 at 6:15 PM Milwaukee, WI
Police are investigating an armed robbery of a Family Dollar near 60th and Silver Spring around 6:15 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30.Unknown suspects entered the business fired shots, demanded and obtained property.
38. Jan. 30, 2023 at 11:48 AM PST AKRON, Ohio (WOIO)
Detectives are asking for the community’s help in identifying a man who robbed a Family Dollar on Saturday night.Police say officers responded to the Family Dollar located at the 900 block of South Arlington Street around 8:30 p.m. where they met with the clerk of the store.According to the employee, the suspect was seen stuffing electronic products into his pockets.Police say the suspect flashed a handgun and threatened the manager before leaving the store.The suspect was last seen getting into a dark-colored vehicle that was headed northbound out of the parking lot after the robbery, police say.
39. January 31, 2023 at 11:53 pm Brockton, Massachusetts

1 Dead in Double Shooting at Dollar Tree Store in Brockton

Two people were shot, one fatally, at a Dollar Tree store in Brockton, Massachusetts, on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.Both of the victims were rushed to local hospitals from the store at 999 North Montello Street, which is also Route 28, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said. Both were shot inside the store.Brockton police said one of the people had died. Police didn't immediately say if anyone was in custody in connection with the shooting.Surveillance video shows someone walking into Dollar Tree on North Montello Street Tuesday afternoon. Moments later, several people can be seen running out of the store.After less than a minute, the person who had walked in can be seen leaving the store and taking off.Lisa Dower lives right across the street and came outside when she heard multiple police cars arriving. She saw one of the victims, who had managed to make it to the street."The gentleman was lying on the sidewalk," she said. "At first, he wasn't moving. I was scared for him, and then I saw his arms moving."He was rushed to the hospital."When they put him on the gurney, I noticed blood around part of his leg," said Dower.A bullet hole could be seen in a front window.Investigators haven't said if the victims were shoppers or employees. Nearby residents who shop at the Dollar Tree often spoke highly of the workers."They're very helpful," said Alexander Williams. "They go out of their way, they're not aggravating, they're not impatient, they're doing their job, trying to make it like the rest of us out here."A spokesperson for Dollar Tree released a brief statement Tuesday night."We are aware of the tragic incident at our store in Brockton, MA (N. Montello St. location) this afternoon and are actively assisting law enforcement with their investigation. Our hearts go out to the victims of this horrible crime."The part of the city where the shooting occurred is a busy area with multiple other businesses, including an Advance Auto Parts next door and a Stop & Shop grocery store located across the street.
40. Jan 31, 2023 Lacy Lakeview, TX
101 N Lacy Drive
Lacy Lakeview police are looking for a man who robbed a store late Sunday while wearing a gold skull Halloween mask.
The man used a firearm to rob a Dollar General at about 10 p.m. Sunday, according to a Lacy Lakeview Police Department Facebook post. In addition to the mask, the man wore all-black clothing, and he is 5 feet, 10 inches to 6 feet tall, according to the post.
Police ask that anyone with information that could lead to an arrest in the robbery contact them and refer to case No. 23-0070.

Ethereum's Pied Piper - Vitalik Buterin recently gave a sermon entitled, "What in the Ethereum application ecosystem excites me" - let's dig into this and see if, indeed, any of this is exciting to anybody other than Mr. Buterin and his missionaries...
Fun fact: This time last year or two, Vitalik was championing the value of NFTs as a great "use case" for crypto. Notice there's nothing about them in his latest sermon...
Source: https://vitalik.ca/general/2022/12/05/excited.html

What in the Ethereum application ecosystem excites me

Ten, five, or even two years ago, my opinions on what Ethereum and blockchains can do for the world were very abstract. "This is a general-purpose technology, like C++", I would say; of course, it has specific properties like decentralization, openness and censorship resistance, but beyond that it's just too early to say which specific applications are going to make the most sense.

This is still, by far the standard narrative for all of crypto. "It's still early!" We are 14 years into the tech. Maybe not that long in Ethereum, but still, that's the main narrative for all cryptos. Ethereum has lots more functionality than Bitcoin, but it's still a solution looking for a problem... Let's see if anywhere in this diatribe there's an actual problem being solved by Eth technology, and most importantly, Is Eth's solution the best approach? Or is it merely just another "use case" that blockchain's square peg, is hammered into an application's round hole?

Today's world is no longer that world. Today, enough time has passed that there are few ideas that are completely unexplored: if something succeeds, it will probably be some version of something that has already been discussed in blogs and forums and conferences on multiple occasions. We've also come closer to identifying fundamental limits of the space. Many DAOs have had a fair chance with an enthusiastic audience willing to participate in them despite the inconveniences and fees, and many have underperformed. Industrial supply-chain applications have not gone anywhere. Decentralized Amazon on the blockchain has not happened. But it's also a world where we have seen genuine and growing adoption of a few key applications that are meeting people's real needs - and those are the applications that we need to focus on.

Notice more ambiguous un-qualifiable statements.

we have seen genuine and growing adoption of a few key applications that are meeting people's real needs

blah, blah, blah.... WHAT APPLICATIONS?

Hence my change in perspective: my excitement about Ethereum is now no longer based in the potential for undiscovered unknowns, but rather in a few specific categories of applications that are proving themselves already, and are only getting stronger.
What are these applications, and which applications am I no longer optimistic about? That is what this post will be about.

Hoooray! We might get some specifics so we can actually see whether or not any of these claims hold water?
Before we dive into this, it's important to note that blockchain and crypto is an incredibly convoluted technology that has yet to be proven to be even competitive with existing non-blockchain systems on virtually every conceivable system.
So the operative thing here is: Show us one solid example of something blockchain does that's better than a comparable non-blockchain solution?
This should be really simple. That question can be easily answered for virtually every disruptive technology that blockchain has been compared to, from "The Internet" to fax machines.

1. Money: the first and still most important app

When I first visited Argentina in December last year, one of the experiences I remember well was walking around on Christmas Day, when almost everything is closed, looking for a coffee shop. After passing by about five closed ones, we finally found one that was open. When we walked in, the owner recognized me, and immediately showed me that he has ETH and other crypto-assets on his Binance account. We ordered tea and snacks, and we asked if we could pay in ETH. The coffee shop owner obliged, and showed me the QR code for his Binance deposit address, to which I sent about $20 of ETH from my Status wallet on my phone.

There's a huge difference between an anecdotal happenstance of a random guy in a coffeehouse willing to trade you a coffee for some crypto, and actually claiming crypto is in any way, a form of "money."
Tiny, trivial purchases like coffee (or a t-shirt from Tesla) are minute enough to fall below the AML/regulatory/taxation radar, but transactions significantly larger are nowhere near as easy to pull off. This isn't a sign crypto is "money" any more than a child opening a lemonade stand in front of their house, is an example of an "Initial Public Offering."

This was far from the most meaningful use of cryptocurrency that is taking place in the country. Others are using it to save money, transfer money internationally, make payments for large and important transactions, and much more. But even still, the fact that I randomly found a coffee shop and it happened to accept cryptocurrency showed the sheer reach of adoption. Unlike wealthy countries like the United States, where financial transactions are easy to make and 8% inflation is considered extreme, in Argentina and many other countries around the world, links to global financial systems are more limited and extreme inflation is a reality every day. Cryptocurrency often steps in as a lifeline.

First off, there's one big lie we have to expose:
Crypto is not "money"; most people are not using crypto as "money", and in those rare situations where you can use crypto in a material transaction, it's hardly easy, cheap and efficient

In addition to Binance, there is also an increasing number of local exchanges, and you can see advertisements for them everywhere including at airports.

So there are crypto ads in airports. The only thing this proves is that some people like to advertise their get-rich-quick schemes in airports.

The one issue with my coffee transaction is that it did not really make pragmatic sense. The fee was high, about a third of the value of the transaction. The transaction took several minutes to confirm: I believe that at the time, Status did not yet support sending proper EIP-1559 transactions that more reliably confirm quickly. If, like many other Argentinian crypto users, I had simply had a Binance wallet, the transfer would have been free and instant.

Ahhh, thank you for at least being honest. The coffee transaction was indeed, an inferior, more expensive, more time-consuming way than just using traditional non-blockchain methods.

A year later, however, the calculus is different. As a side effect of the Merge, transactions get included significantly more quickly and the chain has become more stable, making it safer to accept transactions after fewer confirmations.

Is this calculus really different? Note that there's no metrics or actual evidence here to make that comparison that things have significantly changed. Eth's movement from PoW to PoS probably has resulted in faster transaction processing, and due to Eth's larger block size and smaller block completion time, it is significantly faster than Bitcoin at this point, but still.... you're comparing Eth to Eth. You may have made your blockchain's transactions slightly more efficient, but in comparison to credit card processing, it's still not competitive, and laughably slow.
So now we're seeing what this theme really is about... it's about how Vitalik can see improvements in the Ethereum ecosystem, but that still doesn't prove that anything Ethereum's blockchain does, is still anywhere near as useful to everybody else in the real world. Credit card transactions are faster, cheaper, and most importantly, a lot safer with more consumer protections.

Scaling technology such as optimistic and ZK rollups is proceeding quickly. Social recovery and multisig wallets are becoming more practical with account abstraction. These trends will take years to play out as the technology develops, but progress is already being made.

In other words..."It's still early!"(tm)
Get used to hearing that overused talking point whenever somebody asks the obvious question, "What does this tech do that's better than what I've already been using for decades?"

there is an important "push factor" driving interest in transacting on-chain: the FTX collapse, which has reminded everyone, Latin Americans included, that even the most trustworthy-seeming centralized services may not be trustworthy after all.

Does that also include centralized systems like, say, The Ethereum Foundation? and Eth's core development team which is not put in place or regulated by any obvious amount of "consensus?"

Cryptocurrency in wealthy countries
In wealthy countries, the more extreme use cases around surviving high inflation and doing basic financial activities at all usually do not apply. But cryptocurrency still has significant value.

Ahhh, the 'ol "crypto has value" (because I say so) argument. It never gets old.
In reality, any 'value' crypto has is wholly extrinsic value - and most things that have extrinsic value only retain that value because of powerful centralized interests, like nation-states that mandate fiat as legal tender. In a de-centralized world, managing popularity and acceptance of something is exponentially more difficult.
For every crypto that 3 out of 10 people acknowledge has value, there's 1000 cryptos 0 out of 10 people acknowledge has value. This is not what I'd consider any reliable "sense of value."
Vitalik's "crypto has value" argument is like proclaiming the bumper from a 1971 Volkswagon Beetle has value because you found somebody who would pay you $500 for it. Good for you. But note that to the rest of the planet, whose needs don't align up with that cherry-picked, anecdotal scenario, really could care less. And once you start promoting your rusty bumpers outside of the La Jolla Volkswagon Collectors Club, your milage may vary.

As someone who has used it to make donations (to quite normal organizations in many countries), I can personally confirm that it is far more convenient than traditional banking.

More bullshit anecdotal evidence. Vitalik thinks it's super convenient to make donations in crypto. Therefore it should be the same for everybody? Meanwhile the vast majority of non-profit organizations don't accept crypto. But let's not talk about the real world... we're busy focusing on Vitalik's little anecdotal bubble...

It's also valuable for industries and activities at risk of being deplatformed by payment processors - a category which includes many industries that are perfectly legal under most countries' laws.

This is another lie. Crypto can't protect you from being de-platformed. Blockchain wallets can and have been blacklisted. If you do something bad enough, and there's crypto involved, because of blockchain's transparent ledger, your "money" can be held hostage and you can be de-platformed at any place that would accept or convert your crypto. This has already happened with Ethereum and their network. More examples here and here.

There is also the important broader philosophical case for cryptocurrency as private money: the transition to a "cashless society" is being taken advantage of by many governments as an opportunity to introduce levels of financial surveillance that would be unimaginable 100 years ago. Cryptocurrency is the only thing currently being developed that can realistically combine the benefits of digitization with cash-like respect for personal privacy.

Now... this is just bullshit. If you're worried about "financial privacy" the last thing in the world you want to do is have every transaction you make codified in an immutable public ledger.
That Vitalik would even bring this up as any sort of solution to "financial surveillance" is so absurd, he must be trolling people.

But in either case, cryptocurrency is far from perfect. Even with all the technical, user experience and account safety problems solved, it remains a fact that cryptocurrency is volatile, and the volatility can make it difficult to use for savings and business. For that reason, we have...
Stablecoins

Oh sweet lord Jeebus, you are telling us you have any trust or faith in so-called "stablecoins?"
Dude... ?
Almost none of these so-called stablecoins have been properly audited. We have no evidence whatsoever that there's adequate liquidity backing up those coins. There's overwhelming evidence they're all a bunch of frauds. See: here for a classic example.
What's the biggest problem with stablecoins? Ask anybody. You know what they should say? "Lack of guarantee of liquidity." Stablecoins are supposed to represent fiat. Fiat is not on the blockchain. How can any blockchain-based "solution" for stablecoins guarantee where the actual liquidity backing up those stablecoins is? It's theoretically impossible. Blockchain cannot guarantee the existence/authenticity of anything off-chain. This is the "Oracle problem" that blockchain can't solve, and why so-called "solutions" are bogus. You still have to trust some central authority off-chain, and that authority is what matters -- not what's on blockchain.

Stablecoins issued on-chain have many convenient properties: they are open for use by anyone, they are resistant to the most large-scale and opaque forms of censorship (the issuer can blacklist and freeze addresses, but such blacklisting is transparent, and there are literal transaction fee costs associated with freezing each address), and they interact well with on-chain infrastructure (accounts, DEXes, etc). But it's not clear how long this state of affairs will last, and so there is a need to keep working on other alternatives.

He says stablecoins are censorship resistant, then he admits they can be censored, but it's ok because "such blacklisting is transparent?" Really? And how do you know these blacklists are transparent?
I wonder how many people tried to transact with blacklisted wallet addresses and the exchanges actually told them they were blacklisted? As opposed to the much more likely scenario of simply saying, "We're having problems with your account - can you send us more pictures of your passport and bank accounts?"

I see the stablecoin design space as basically being split into three different categories: centralized stablecoins, DAO-governed real-world-asset backed stablecoins and governance-minimized crypto-backed stablecoins.

Ahh, so this is more of the "It's still early" argument. Let's take all the good things we can fabricate and cherry pick about existing stablecoins that have not collapsed yet, and suggest that we can de-centralize them and make them better....despite no evidence this is true.
If you're following along at home, so far, there's not a single thing that has been de-centralized that's resulted in something better. But hey, try to kick the football... This time Vitalik promises he won't pull it away at the last minute.
Let's skip over this stablecoin blather... it's so full of flaws nobody who's paying attention to the market really would buy that blockchain can fix anything.

1. Defi: keep it simple

Decentralized finance is, in my view, a category that started off honorable but limited, turned into somewhat of an overcapitalized monster that relied on unsustainable forms of yield farming, and is now in the early stages of setting down into a stable medium, improving security and refocusing on a few applications that are particularly valuable.

Hmmm, so Vitalik is saying De-Fi is settling down into some valuable applications?
What are those applications? How con-veeeeenient you don't enumerate them.
Many of us would say De-Fi is settling all right. It's settling like a house of cards that will eventually crumble to the ground because, like other crypto securities, there is no actual value creation anywhere. It's just highly-leveraged gambling, in a casino that's un-regulated and often un-accountable.

Decentralized stablecoins are, and probably forever will be, the most important defi product

So, what we have here is, "Just wait, we're coming up with an application for blockchain..." and now it's "decentralized stablecoins"... but we've already seen systems like Terra-Luna collapse. There's no indication more decentralization or using a different blockchain would produce different results.

1. The identity ecosystem: ENS, SIWE, PoH, POAPs, SBTs

"Identity" is a complicated concept that can mean many things. Some examples include:
Basic authentication: simply proving that action A (eg. sending a transaction or logging into a website) was authorized by some agent that has some identifier, such as an ETH address or a public key, without attempting to say anything else about who or what the agent is.
Attestations: proving claims about an agent made by other agents ("Bob attests that he knows Alice", "the government of Canada attests that Charlie is a citizen")
Names: establishing consensus that a particular human-readable name can be used to refer to a particular agent.
Proof of personhood: proving that an agent is human, and guaranteeing that each human can only obtain one identity through the proof of personhood system (this is often done with attestations, so it's not an entirely separate category, but it's a hugely important special case)

The whole "blockchain can verify authenticity" argument is another lie. I fully debunk this in my video on the subject. In short, blockchain provides no verification. It merely parrots what centralized, third-party oracles decide is and isn't authentic. Blockchain adds absolutely nothing of value to such situations.
And enumerating the different things that can be authenticated is a distraction. In each of those cases, the actual authentication is done by central authorities - if those authorities make an improper authetication, then what's on blockchain is wrong. Blockchain has nothing to do with the process other than give certain tech-illiterate people, a false sense of security.
In Vitalik's article, he has a picture of a laminate with the caption: "An NFC card that contains my ENS name, and allows you to receive a POAP verifying that you've met me. I'm not sure I want to create any further incentive for people to bug me really hard to get my POAP, but this seems fun and useful for other people."
This NFC "authentication card" he carries around is a great example of the total false sense of security. Depending upon the type of NFC, it's trivially easy to walk up to him and scan his card with something like a handheld Flipper Zero, clone his ID card, and then begin to create my own totally false "authentication" on the blockchain that I am now Vitalik Buterin. AND, anybody who would argue otherwise saying his card couldn't be so easily cloned, is either wrong, or they're pointing to the inherent security in the encrypted NFC standard being used, and NOT in anything blockchain brings to the situation that aids in authenticity.
Again, if you sincerely believe blockchain can help verify authenticity, please watch this video - you are wrong. There is no ambiguity here. These people are lying. This is why all these so-called blockchain authenticity applications have completely failed.

1. DAOs

"DAO" is a powerful term that captures many of the hopes and dreams that people have put into the crypto space to build more democratic, resilient and efficient forms of governance.

Here we go... more ambiguous, flowery language that is utterly devoid of any quantifiable specifics. This is "par" for any and all crypto discourse: Be ambiguous. Always allude to grandiosity in vague terms so that nobody can specifically test anything you're saying as being true or false.

It's also an incredibly broad term whose meaning has evolved a lot over the years. Most generally, a DAO is a smart contract that is meant to represent a structure of ownership or control over some asset or process. But this structure could be anything, from the lowly multisig to highly sophisticated multi-chamber governance mechanisms like those proposed for the Optimism Collective. Many of these structures work, and many others cannot, or at least are very mismatched to the goals that they are trying to achieve.

If you've been following along, you'll note that we've already determined blockchain can't verify authenticity, so a smart-contract-based consensus system still suffers from the same "Oracle Problems" authentication apps inherit. But DAOs are even worse, because this so-called "democratic" system isn't really democratic. When you think of "democracy" what comes to mind? Usually: 1 person, 1 vote right? But that's now how DAOs work. It's 1-token = 1-vote. And typically in DAOs there's usually one entity that has enough tokens to unilaterally dictate what "consensus" means in that model. So it's hardly democratic. This is another farce.
Here's a slide from my documentary that compares DAOs to Stocks - which is one of the concepts crypto people try to borrow from (and make much worse):
https://i.imgur.com/872l2ur.jpeg
In short, DAOs are another sleazy mechanism that tries to copy the traditional stock market's system of shareholder influence, but reduce the actual amount of influence with little to no accountability and oversight.

Decentralization for efficiency
Decentralization for efficiency is a different school of thought: decentralized governance structure is valuable because it can incorporate opinions from more diverse voices at different scales, and decentralized implementation is valuable because it can sometimes be more efficient and lower cost than traditional legal-system-based approaches.

This is more abstract, philosophical rambling.
To date, we have not been shown a single example of how de-centralizing anything using blockchain, makes it in any way, more "efficient." I continue to be open to examples, but still have never seen a single solid example. Here's the list of failed examples.
Vitalik's sermon goes on to talk ambiguously, philosophically about the so-called benefit of de-centralizing things.... but there are glaring problems in these implementations he either ignores, or doesn't want anybody to be aware of.
In a general sense, consensus mechanisms really can't work without some authority to enforce those mechanisms, and "code" is not adequate or capable of doing this -- especially regarding anything happening off-chain. Nobody is compelled to give creedence to what any blockchain entry says. So the only way that's enforced is through some sort of central authority. Vitalik keeps ignoring this obvious elephant in the room.
I have to assume Vitalik is a smart guy - he sometimes acknowledges the challenges and complexities of these applications, but he so often ignores such glaring problems that I have to assume it's intentional. You cannot be so analytical, yet oblivious to fatal flaws in your design. It just doesn't make sense, until you realize promoting a specific narrative is what makes you rich AF.

Case study: Gitcoin Grants
We can analyze the different styles of decentralization through an interesting edge-case: Gitcoin Grants. Should Gitcoin Grants be an on-chain DAO, or should it just be a centralized org?

This is more philosophical meandering... Any attempt to make a grant system efficient and legitimate would be a function, NOT of its use of a DAO or whether it was de-centralized, but the specific details of how consensus and decisions are made, and which entities have how much influence and power? We already know that in the world of blockchain, there is absolutely no facility that can stop singular powerful special interests from exerting control. De-centralizing something doesn't make it take-over-proof. The whole system revolves around a pay-to-vote scheme, favoring those who have more money & resources.
How would a DAO differ from say, a standard board of directors? The legitimacy of the body's decisions isn't a function of how decision makers make decisions. It centers around who's on the board, what their agenda is, and whether or not there's appropriate checks and balances. In blockchain, there really aren't any checks and balances. There's just tokens and whoever has the most tokens, has the most influence. You can vote for board members. You can't decide who has DAO tokens typically.

1. Hybrid applications

There are many applications that are not entirely on-chain, but that take advantage of both blockchains and other systems to improve their trust models.

That statement is a lie. There has yet to be any evidence that "blockchain improves the trust model." See here.

Voting is an excellent example.

No it isn't. Blockchain can't determine who votes for whom. It just records the votes a central authority/oracle dictates.
If you want to champion the value of online/digital voting and verifying your participation using cryptographic signatures, I'm totally on board with that and think it's a great idea.
But note.. nowhere in that sentence is there any mention of "blockchain." You don't need blockchain, nor de-centralization to achieve more reliable voting mechanisms. You can use traditional centralized databases with cryptographic signing to ensure peoples' votes are properly counted. That would be a good thing. Blockchain adds nothing to the application except more fault intolerance and less efficiency.

High assurances of censorship resistance, auditability and privacy are all required, and systems like MACI effectively combine blockchains, ZK-SNARKs and a limited centralized (or M-of-N) layer for scalability and coercion resistance to achieve all of these guarantees.

All this fancy technobabble is a distraction. ZK-SNARKS, M-of-N... blah blah... none of that matters. There are simpler, easier, more secure ways to digitally handle voting without blockchain. Just use a private/public keypair that can authenticate your vote. Done. The data can be stored anywhere. No need for SNARKS or M&Ns or whatever that stuff is that nobody cares about.

So how do we get there?
Many of these applications are being built today, though many of these applications are seeing only limited usage because of the limitations of present-day technology. Blockchains are not scalable, transactions until recently took a fairly long time to reliably get included on the chain, and present-day wallets give users an uncomfortable choice between low convenience and low security. In the longer term, many of these applications will need to overcome the specter of privacy issues.
These are all problems that can be solved

Translation: "It's still early!"
Sorry guys... we're 14 years into this. In less than that same time we went from putting some metal in orbit, to landing a man on the moon. It shouldn't take this long to come up with a single bona fide blockchain app that does something objectively better.

Brand new to collecting only ever fragrance I had prior was Le Male that I wore since high school and when that ran out I’d just buy it again. Ordered a wallet from Macy’s that had a sample of D&G K EDP was super intrigued by it then started watching hours and hours of Gents Scents on YouTube and was hooked! Next up I am thinking Sauvage Elixir or Wanted by Night.
List of everything there:
JPG Le Male
Club de Nuit Intense Man
D&G K EDP
YSL Y EDP
Bleu De Chanel EDP
Spicebomb Extreme
Dior Sauvage EDT
D&G Light Blue eau Intense
D&G The One EDP
Versace Eros EDT
https://imgur.com/a/crxBlpt

Of all the women Hillary and MichWho know between the two of them, the best guest they were able to book is the racist, classist, inarticulate Ramona Singer who was recently fired from The Real Housewives of New York (RHONY). It is satisfying to think of all the people these two ninnies approached who either didn’t answer or politely declined. This does leave us with the spectacle of stupidity that is this podcast episode, though, so here we go.
· Sponsors – I’m sure these companies just buy x number of minutes on iHeartRadio podcasts without knowing the specifics, but they may want to reconsider that strategy. The following companies sponsored this horrific episode of WA when I listened last night: Carl’s Jr, Albertsons/Vons/Pavilions, Ad-O-Rama.com, BullBBQ.com, Fuji Airways, Community West Bank, & GotMilk.com. They rotate the ads, though, so there are far more companies featured in the 3 minutes of ads at the beginning, middle, and end of the episode.
· After the ads, Hillary opens with the most lackluster hello I have ever heard on a podcast. She recites the line “Hey witches, welcome back to Witches Anonymous” with all the enthusiasm of a patient arriving for a root canal.
· Ramona is a garbage human being, but let’s give her props for repeatedly calling Hillary “Hill-AIRY-uh” throughout the episode and causing little Bostonian angels to get their wings each time she did so.
· Hillary sets up the reason Ramona is the first guest on her vanity project thusly (1:15) “I met you in the Upper East Side, I was with two of my dear friends” Ramona interjects: “two cute boys” H: “two cute boys…who later on I officiated their wedding…I was so intimidated b/c I was 28 years old and had just stepped into this world that you were in and my husband was in and you gave me your phone number and I never hit the ball back b/c I was so intimidated by you. And over the years we’ve run into each other a few times and when I started this project, you were the first person I thought of b/c I was like, you know what, she was always there to support me.” Let’s assess: gay friends are reduced to the “cute boys” trope, the first mention of Alec before she had been speaking for one full minute, she never contacted Ramona and saw her on occasion, but she has been supportive of Hillary…how? I love the tell here: “when I started this project, you were the first person I thought of.” Hopefully, Michelle is floating blissfully on her cocktail/pill combo and not catching how her witch partner just forgot she exists
· Ramona is known for mangling American English in much the same way Hillary does, so true to form, she opens by going straight to a tired gender stereotype and talking about how men retreat to their “male caves, or men caves” and women like to talk to each other. Also, the first of many mentions about having been a buyer at Macy’s. Ramona recounts how when she broke up with her (rich) boyfriend when she was young, she had no one to call (4:20) “no girlfriend in my life, no gay friend in my life.” She needs to join Hillary’s apparently defunct “Labels Are Lazy” coven.
· Hillary then remembers that the woman staring blankly at her on the Zoom screen, is, in fact, the only person who will work with her, so she (4:22) says “Michelle, you have been with me through so many difficult things, and again it’s one of the reasons that we started this podcast, we need to have a coven where we share all of our advice and share our tears and we figure it out.” Oh, Hilz. MichWho figured out that selling her jewelry on the cheap for $15 a pop a Walmart was not going to pay for the massive amounts of Botox she needs, that’s why she’s here, don’t get it twisted.
· FYI, I’m skipping chunks of filler convo bc I love you all and am worried about all of us losing brain cells as we take this in. We don’t need to hear every time Ramona mentions her daughter’s fancy school, yearly trips to Aspen, flying first class, her multi-million-dollar homes in the Hamptons and the city. She literary mentioned all of that. In the words of the artist formerly known as The Countess, money can’t buy you class, Ramona.
· In a rambling discussion about how going out with girlfriends is good, Hillary throws Alec under the bus as usual (5:40) “we have a saying engraved in some places: ‘I prefer to have one partner that I do essentially everything with’… Alec is much more attached, more co-dependent than I am…[and he complained] you have to put the word essentially in?” Despite this being the antithesis of what La Crazy Eyes Ramona just said, they all agree this is great.
· Hillary asks (7:27) “What was your expectation going into the show?” Ramona responds that she only did the show to help her ex-husband’s jewelry business (8:09) “to get eyeballs on the business.” She says she knew the show would average 1 million viewers due to her witchy intuition, and production laughed it off. She then pauses dramatically and says, “guess what, Hill-AIRY- uh, we averaged 1 million viewers.” I hope Hillary’s blood pressure spiked every time Ramona did this.
· Michelle affirms that Ramona used her (9:25) “witch senses” to foretell the million viewers and asks, (8:51) “was there any outcome or reality from the experience that completely shocked you or blew your mind?” Ramona responds (9:06) “How famous we became…I couldn’t even use the word famous until 10 seasons later” and continues, but the word “famous” is catnip for our favorite faux Spanish diva, so she interrupts Ramona with lightning speed to offer (9:18) “It’s awkward because people will be like, did you just say you’re famous? You’re like, well, I’m in the news all the time, and people are chasing me around with cameras…but it is this awkward moment. Like I can say about my husband he’s a movie star, like that’s just true, he’s a celebrity. It’s a very clear line and then with me I’m like, I don’t know, the person that graces your tabloids.”
· Ramona says confidently (10: 11)“you’re a personality and that’s why they write about you,” thereby cementing her Clown Coven status, I guess.
· H then reads the next questions that were prepared for her b/c there’s no way her three brain cells connect with enough clarity to ask (11:54) “What did you learn from being on this show for so many years? How did it change you in a way you could have never imagined?”
· Ramona responds that she’s more self-aware and realized that she can be abrupt and curt, then gives us this gem for the ages: “Bethenny made fun of me… for saying…, ‘thank you so kindly,’ I don’t care, better be overly nice than underly nice.” Hillary needs to make Alec sit in a corner and repeat "underly nice" on a loop.
· Michelle echoes Ramona’s list of things she does and lets us know she also is doing the backbreaking work of (13:31) “running two businesses, trying to work out, having a social life.” Her point is when men do all the things, they are called efficient, and women are called curt. My point is these women live lives untouched by actual stress and trauma and this conversation is evidence of that fact.
· Michelle confusingly says (15:22) “what we talk about here all the time is that the pie is infinite, that what we’re always trying to cultivate this conversation around” – they have one trailer and two episodes what is this all the time/always junk?
· When Hillary loses track of what people are saying, her go-to phrase is “survival of the fittest” which she read in a meme once. So, she leaps into the fray and adds, apropos of absolutely nothing (15:40) “it’s embedded in us, as you were saying (LITERALLY NO ONE SAID THIS) it’s survival of the fittest, and then we get to a point where we have to let each other know, hey, we can put our swords down…let’s pull up a chair, our table only grows, and we’re all in this together.” What I wouldn’t give to see MichWho blinking uncomprehendingly at this word salad.
· Since no one can figure out what she is talking about, H looks at her script and reads (16:30) “being under such a spotlight, how do you handle the press attention?” Oh, you mean the attention about Ramona calling house staff “the help” and making overtly and covertly racist statements about cast mates? That press attention? I’m all ears.
· Ramona says (16:36) “I can’t handle it well, it makes me very upset,” – to clarify, being a racist is a-ok with Ramona, it’s being called a racist and losing her job that hurts her feelings. Proving she’s Hillary’s soul mate, Ramona notes when the press writes things that are untrue “it’s a very difficult, difficult thing to handle.”
· In response to the talk about the evils of the media (heh), Hillary adds her longest rant of the episode (16:51) “it’s a business for them, and that’s what I am always trying to say to people, is like they’re gonna try to do the clickbait or just the headline is going to be the most ridiculous thing in the world.. or if I say.. you wrote this and it’s not true, then I have to hire a lawyer to get them to try to take it down and then they wait. There’s always like a…you have to take it down by 5:02 p.m. or whatever and they wait til like 5:01 and then it’s already picked up everything else. People have already read it, people already assume that’s how you are, what you are, and I think that they do this to women on such a higher degree, and this goes back to Michelle’s roots and to the witch in this podcast - is people love to tear women down and we have learned through the survival of the fittest that women love to tear other women down b/c we think that then we’ll have a little bit more or it gives us a dopamine high.” Sweet Baby Jesus, the delusion and the horrendous syntax.
· Then these women actually have the nerve to say that social media is a big problem for young people. So…the SM you use to pretend you are thinner, taller, bustier, richer than you really are? M’kay. Ramona says “these kids are more consumed about these photos than living in the moment or interacting with their friends, they’re just consumed with taking photos, it’s just a crazy, crazy world” – for once Ramona hit the nail on the head and accidentally described Hillary. MichWho helpfully adds ( 19:11) “or you see them all sitting around a dinner table just everyone is looking at their phone and no one is having a conversation…the lack of presence is very interesting.” Hillary must have been checking her phone b/c I think she missed that exchange.
· MichWho tries to reign it in and makes some kind of connection by sharing that even regular people who are not superstars like Hillary and Ramona experience people saying mean things. Ramona agrees and recounts a story that ran in Page Six about someone she dated (19:54) “who did a white-collar crime and went away for six months.” Page Six running this info was “so cruel because he belonged to a country club and this happened like ten years ago and.. it was mortifying ” OH. MY. GOD. They went right to commercial after she said that - good move, underpaid podcast editor!
· Next, it’s Hillary’s turn to make a connection. She notes (22:15) “for those of you guys listening at home, a lot of people will say that the experiences that Ramona and I have had is not relatable b/c [you’re] not in the media [not] in the news. Over and over again on this podcast, I’m gonna try to drill in how it trickles down into what we’re seeing in the influencer world and…that is how we start treating each other” It might not be the whole world looking at you but it’s your whole world... [we want to] support each other rather than picking at each other for silly things.” We’re not here to shit-talk your eyebrows, Hillary. It goes a little deeper than that.
· Ramona responds to some generalization MichWho made and enters another dimension (26:09) “it’s like the whole Princess and the Pea, what was the other one the girl who got married? Sleeping Beauty! Right, not Sleeping Beauty, the one with the shoes. Cinderella.” There was no point I could discern but it was COMEDY.
· MichWho goes to famous quotes and butchers this one (27:18) “be yourself, everybody is already taken.” It’s actually “be yourself, everyone else is already taken.” Read each word in the script, Mich. The poor assistant that prepped it is probably pulling out their hair.
· H alludes to a whole “apology thing” Ramona dealt with, neatly sidestepping claims that Ramona said and did racist crap over years, and turning it into a moment for her to tell us what she teaches Carmen (31:42): “An apology can be a great thing (beat) sometimes…I tell Carmen, don’t go through life constantly apologizing. It goes to being unapologetically yourself. Yes, of course, sometimes we’re gonna mess up and we should apologize for that, and then sometimes we just apologize because it’s in our vocabulary.” Parent of the year material.
· Ramona brags that her daughter has a very strong (33:30) “work ethics” and also captured Hillary’s whole schtick in a throwaway line about the very elaborate family dinners she and her ex had when their daughter was growing up: (37:59) “I’m European background, he’s European background we had a beautiful dinner every night with candles, silver, crystal.” Being European is synonymous with being special to these nutterbutters.
· Hillary doesn’t comment on this particular story but recounts that when Carmen was a toddler (38:14) “I was constantly in photoshoots and being on Rachel Ray, and then the Today show” and Carmen would tantrum and scream “I want my mommy!” To which I imagine Hillary replied, “Mami is grifting, querida, watch and learn.”
· In the first episode, the final question was “what are you coveting in the coven?” It's now “what’s in your coven?” a la “what’s in your wallet?” Ramona loves Lisa Rinna’s crappy makeup which tracks.
· Just like her previous podcast with Alec – an abrupt ending (“Ok bye, thank you!”) then cut to Hillary chirping, “Michelle, Ramona was the perfect first guest. Witchy in all the best ways. Such good energy.” What the what? I now need a full brujería limpia after listening to this clownery, zero good energy.
· MichWho covets a drink called Llama Mama and Hillary covets sleep (did you know she had a 7-week-old baby?) and shoehorns in a pitch for a swaddle blanket from Snuggle Me Organics.
They close with a bizarre tribute to silent movie era actress Clara Bow as their example of...an empowered feminist "witch." You could not make this up.
Cutting-edge, empowering content. How did we ever survive without this?
ETA: spelling & clarity

Training Day
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to navigationJump to searchThis article is about the 2001 film. For the CBS TV series based on the film, see Training Day (TV series)). For other uses, see Training Day (disambiguation)).Training Day📷Theatrical release poster with original release dateDirected byAntoine FuquaWritten byDavid AyerProduced by

• Bobby Newmyer
• Jeffrey Silver

Starring

• Denzel Washington
• Ethan Hawke
• Scott Glenn
• Cliff Curtis
• Dr. Dre
• Snoop Dogg

CinematographyMauro FioreEdited byConrad BuffMusic byMark MancinaProduction companies

• Village Roadshow Pictures
• Outlaw Productions

Distributed byWarner Bros. PicturesRelease dates

• September 2, 2001 (Venice Film Festival)
• October 5, 2001 (United States)

Running time122 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$45 million[1]Box office$104.9 million[1]
Training Day is a 2001 American crime thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Ayer. It stars Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris and Ethan Hawke as Jake Hoyt, two LAPD narcotics officers over a 24-hour period in the gang-ridden neighborhoods of Westlake, Echo Park and South Central Los Angeles. It also features Scott Glenn, Cliff Curtis, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Macy Gray in supporting roles.
Training Day was released on October 5, 2001, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised Washington and Hawke's performances but were divided on the screenplay.[2][3] It was a commercial success, grossing $104 million worldwide against a production budget of $45 million.
The film received numerous accolades and nominations, with Washington's performance earning him the Academy Award for Best Actor and Hawke being nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 74th Academy Awards.
A television series based on the film), produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, was announced in August 2015 and premiered February 2, 2017 on CBS, but was cancelled after one season.[4] A prequel about a young Alonzo Harris was announced in October 2019 as currently being in development by Warner Bros. Pictures. On February 28, 2022, the prequel, named Training Day: Day of the Riot has started production in California.[5][6][7]

Contents

• 1Plot
• 2Cast
  • 2.1Casting
• 3Production
  • 3.1Development
  • 3.2Music
• 4Release
• 5Reception
  • 5.1Accolades
• 6TV series adaptation
• 7Prequel
• 8See also
• 9References
• 10External links

Plot[edit]

Ambitious Los Angeles Police Department Officer Jake Hoyt is up for promotion and is assigned to Detective Alonzo Harris, a highly decorated narcotics officer, for a one-day evaluation. Driving around in Alonzo's Monte Carlo, they begin the day by catching some college kids buying marijuana. Confiscating their drugs, Alonzo puts it into a pipe and tells Jake to smoke it. When Jake refuses, Alonzo threatens him at gunpoint, stating that refusing like this while on the streets would get him killed. Jake smokes the pipe, and Alonzo tells him that it was laced with PCP.
After paying a visit to Roger, an ex-cop turned drug dealer, Jake notices a pair of addicts attempting to rape a teenage girl in an alley. Jake intervenes while Alonzo watches. After the girl leaves and Alonzo scares the addicts off, Jake finds the girl's wallet on the ground and retrieves it.
Later, Alonzo and Jake apprehend a dealer named Blue, finding crack rocks and a loaded handgun on him. Rather than go to jail, Blue informs on his employer Kevin "Sandman" Miller, who is in prison. Using a fake search warrant, Alonzo steals $40,000 from Sandman's home. At lunch, the two visit Alonzo's mistress Sara and their young son. Alonzo then meets with a trio of corrupt high-ranking police officials he dubs the "Three Wise Men." Aware that the Russian Mafia is hunting Alonzo, over a large unpaid debt, they suggest that he skip town. Alonzo insists he has control of the situation, and trades the $40,000 for an arrest warrant.
Using the warrant, Alonzo, Jake, and four other narcotics officers return to Roger's house and seize $4 million from the premises, a quarter of which Alonzo keeps. Alonzo shoots and kills Roger when Jake refuses to do so, and stages the scene with his men to make the shooting look justified. Infuriated, Jake gets into a Mexican standoff with the corrupt officers; Alonzo (having planned the day's events in advance) threatens Jake by reminding him of the LAPD's routine blood test, which will identify the PCP-laced cannabis Jake smoked earlier and end his career. Alonzo promises to protect Jake for his cooperation, and Jake is forced to comply.
Later that evening, Alonzo drives Jake to the home of a Sureño gangster named "Smiley" for an errand. Jake reluctantly plays poker with Smiley and his fellow gang members as he waits for Alonzo. As they talk, Smiley reveals Alonzo's situation: by midnight, Alonzo must pay $1 million to the Russians for killing one of their men in Las Vegas, or be killed himself. Realizing that Alonzo abandoned him and has paid Smiley to kill him, Jake attempts to flee but is beaten and dragged to the bathroom to be executed. Before they can kill Jake, a gang member searches him for money and finds the wallet of the teenage girl, who happens to be Smiley's cousin. After calling his cousin and confirming how Jake had saved her, Smiley releases Jake out of gratitude.
Jake returns to Sara's apartment to arrest Alonzo, just as he is leaving to pay the Russians with Roger's money. A gunfight and chase ensue, and Alonzo is eventually subdued on the street while the entire neighborhood gathers to watch. Alonzo offers money to whoever kills Jake to no avail. Jake then takes the stolen cash, intending to submit it as criminal evidence against Alonzo. The neighborhood gang allows Jake to leave safely. Enraged, Alonzo threatens to retaliate against the gang members, but the unimpressed gangs ignore him and walk away.
Alonzo flees for his life to LAX, but he is ambushed and gunned down by the Russians. Jake returns home as the press reports on Alonzo's death.

Cast[edit]

• Denzel Washington as Detective Alonzo Harris
• Ethan Hawke as Officer Jake Hoyt
• Scott Glenn as Roger
• Eva Mendes as Sara
• Cliff Curtis as "Smiley"
• Raymond Cruz as "Sniper"
• Noel Gugliemi as Moreno
• Dr. Dre as Detective Paul
• Peter Greene as Detective Jeff
• Nick Chinlund as Detective Tim
• Jaime P. Gomez as Detective Mark
• Snoop Dogg as "Blue"
• Macy Gray as Sandman's Wife
• Charlotte Ayanna as Lisa Hoyt
• Harris Yulin as Detective Doug Rosselli
• Tom Berenger as Detective Stanley "Stan" Gursky
• Raymond J. Barry as Captain Lou Jacobs
• Samantha Esteban as "Letty"
• Seidy López as "Dreamer"
• Rudy Perez as "Pee-Wee"
• Cle Shaheed Sloan as "Bone"
• Abel Soto as Neto
• Denzel Whitaker as Dimitri
• Fran Kranz as College Driver
• Terry Crews as Pigeon Flipper

Casting[edit]

Davis Guggenheim was originally attached to direct the film, with Matt Damon as Jake Hoyt and Samuel L. Jackson as Alonzo Harris.[8] Once Washington became attached to the project, however, he requested to have Guggenheim replaced.[9] Eminem was offered the role of Jake Hoyt, but turned it down to star in 8 Mile).[10] Tobey Maguire, Paul Walker, Freddie Prinze Jr., Ryan Phillippe, and Scott Speedman tested for the role of Jake Hoyt.[11]

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

Although corruption in L.A.'s C.R.A.S.H. unit was yet to be exposed when Training Day was written, Antoine Fuqua has stated that the emergence of the Rampart Scandal in the late 1990s catalyzed the completion of the film. Denzel Washington also grew a beard in order to emulate the appearance of Rafael Pérez), an LAPD narcotics officer involved in multiple scandals.[12][13] Fuqua wanted Washington's character to be seductive and part of a machine, and not just a random rogue cop. In Washington's own words: "I think in some ways he's done his job too well. He's learned how to manipulate, how to push the line further and further, and, in the process, he's become more hard-core than some of the guys he's chasing."[14]
Fuqua also saw Ethan Hawke's character as generally honorable but so driven by ambition that he was willing to compromise his principles, particularly when following the charming and persuasive example of Washington's character. He has said that he fought with studio executives who wanted to cut the Three Wise Men scene, thinking it slowed the film. He insisted that the Wise Men scene was pivotal in establishing that at least some of Alonzo's illegal actions were sanctioned by his superiors who regarded unethical behavior as a necessary evil.[15]
Fuqua wanted Training Day to look as authentic as possible, and he shot on location in some of the most infamous neighborhoods of Los Angeles. He even obtained permission to shoot in the Imperial Courts housing project, the first time L.A. street gangs had allowed film crew to be brought into that neighborhood. The crew also filmed in Hoover Block and Baldwin Village.[16] Parts of the film were shot on a dead end street called Palmwood Drive, where the Black P. Stones Blood gang members were seen on the rooftops. Cle Shaheed Sloan, the gang technical advisor of Training Day, managed to get on screen real-life gang members from Rollin' 60 Crips, PJ Watts Crips, and B. P. Stones) (a Bloods set). According to Fuqua, the actors and crew ended up receiving a warm welcome from local residents. When he was unable to shoot a scene directly on location, he recreated the locations on sets.[15]
There were also two police officers on hand as technical advisors, Michael Patterson and Paul Lozada (the latter from the San Francisco Police Department). Washington, Hawke and other cast members also met with undercover police officers, local drug dealers, and gang members to help them understand their roles better.[16]

Music[edit]

Main article: Training Day (soundtrack))
A soundtrack containing hip hop music was released on September 11, 2001, by Priority Records. It peaked at 35 on the Billboard 200 and 19 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and spawned two hit singles, Nelly's "#1)" and Dr. Dre and DJ Quik's "Put It on Me)".

Release[edit]

Training Day was originally scheduled for release on September 21, 2001, and had a strong advertising push. However, following the September 11 attacks, the film was pushed back until October 5, 2001, and opened at number one, grossing $24.2 million.[17] In its second week of release, the film's grossed $13.4 million, staying at the number one position.[18] The film stayed in the top-ten box office until the seventh week of release, landing at number 12. With an estimated budget of $45 million, Training Day ultimately grossed $76.6 million in the US and $104.9 million worldwide.[19]

Reception[edit]

On review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, Training Day holds an approval rating 73% based on 161 reviews, with an average rating of 6.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The ending may be less than satisfying, but Denzel Washington reminds us why he's such a great actor in this taut and brutal police drama."[20] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[21] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[22]
Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert said: "Washington seems to enjoy a performance that's over the top and down the other side".[23] Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, praising both the lead and supporting actors and the film's gritty, kinetic energy. He noted several plot holes and wrote that "[a] lot of people are going to be leaving the theater as I did, wondering about the logic and plausibility of the last 15 minutes."[24]
Writing in The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Rechtshaffen gave the film a positive review on September 12, 2016, when he stated: "Denzel Washington ventures into the dark side as a seriously corrupt narcotics cop in Training Day, and the results are electrifying. So is the picture, thanks to taut, sinewy direction by Antoine Fuqua and a compelling script by David Ayer (The Fast and the Furious))."[25]
Denzel Washington's performance as Detective Alonzo Harris was highly praised by critics. In The Village Voice, Amy Taubin expressed: "Training Day, Antoine Fuqua's propulsive, elegantly written police thriller, offers the unsettling spectacle of Denzel Washington, whose old-fashioned combination of decency and sexiness suggests the African American counterpart to Gregory Peck (in his To Kill a Mockingbird period), as an LAPD cop so evil he makes Harvey Keitel's Bad Lieutenant look like even smaller potatoes than he was meant to be".[26]

Accolades[edit]

AwardCategoryRecipientResultAcademy Awards[27]Best ActorDenzel WashingtonWonBest Supporting ActorEthan HawkeNominatedAmerican Film Institute Awards[28]Actor of the Year – Male – MoviesDenzel WashingtonWonAll Def Movie AwardsMost Quoted MovieNominatedBest Bad Mu#&a AwardDenzel WashingtonWonALMA AwardsOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion PictureEva MendesNominatedExcellence in Make-Up in Television and FilmKen Diaz and Jay WejebeWonASCAP Film and Television Music AwardsMost Performed Song from a Motion Picture"#1)" – Nelly and Waiel "Wally" YaghnamWonAwards Circuit Community AwardsBest Actor in a Leading RoleDenzel WashingtonRunner-upBest Actor in a Supporting RoleEthan HawkeNominatedBET AwardsBest ActorDenzel Washington (also for John Q.)NominatedBlack Reel Awards[29]Best FilmWonBest DirectorAntoine FuquaWonBest ActorDenzel WashingtonWonBest Film PosterWonBest Original SoundtrackNominatedBest Original Song"#1" – NellyNominatedBMI Film & TV AwardsFilm Music AwardMark MancinaWonBoston Society of Film Critics Awards[30]Best ActorDenzel WashingtonWon[a]Chicago Film Critics Association Awards[31]Best ActorNominatedDallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association AwardsBest ActorNominatedFestival Nazionale del Doppiaggio Voci nell'OmbraBest Male Voice (Film Award)Francesco Pannofino (for dubbing Denzel Washington)WonBest Male Voice (Audience Award)WonGolden Globe Awards[32]Best Actor in a Motion Picture – DramaDenzel WashingtonNominatedGolden Schmoes AwardsBest Actor of the YearNominatedKansas City Film Critics Circle Awards[33]Best ActorWonLas Vegas Film Critics Society Awards[34]Best ActorNominatedLos Angeles Film Critics Association Awards[35]Best ActorWonMTV Movie Awards[36]Best VillainWonBest Line"King Kong ain't got nothin' on me!"NominatedBest CameoSnoop DoggWonMTV Video Music AwardsBest Video from a Film"#1" – NellyNominatedNAACP Image AwardsOutstanding Motion PictureNominatedOutstanding Actor in a Motion PictureDenzel WashingtonWonNational Society of Film Critics Awards[37]Best Actor2nd PlaceNew York Film Critics Circle Awards[38]Best ActorRunner-upOnline Film Critics Society Awards[39]Best ActorNominatedSatellite Awards[40]Best Actor in a Motion Picture – DramaNominatedScreen Actors Guild Awards[41]Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading RoleNominatedOutstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting RoleEthan HawkeNominatedTaurus World Stunt Awards[42]Best Work with a VehicleBrian Machleit and Robert PowellNominated
In June 2003, the American Film Institute named Alonzo Harris the 50th greatest screen villain of all time in its list AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains.[43]

TV series adaptation[edit]

Main article: Training Day (TV series))
On August 7, 2015, it was announced that Antoine Fuqua had decided to develop a television series based on the movie), and had teamed with Jerry Bruckheimer to develop the concept. Warner Bros. Television was shopping the show to the American broadcast networks. Will Beall would write the series, while Fuqua would serve as executive producer, and would direct the potential pilot.[44] CBS ordered a pilot on August 14, 2015. In addition to Fuqua, Bruckheimer, Beall, and Jonathan Littman will serve as executive producers for the series, which is set 15 years after the original film.[45] In May 2016, CBS picked up the series.[46]
In the CBS television series) Alonzo is mentioned by Deputy Chief Joy Lockhart when briefing Officer Kyle Craig on sending him undercover at LAPD's Special Investigation Section to investigate Detective Frank Roarke. Frank briefly mentions Alonzo at the end of the first season. The series, starring Bill Paxton and Justin Cornwell premiered on February 2, 2017.
On May 17, 2017, Antonie Fuqua announced the series had been canceled after one season and four months after Paxton's death.

Prequel[edit]

In October 2019, it was reported that Warner Bros. was developing a prequel to Training Day. The prequel follows a young Alonzo Harris in late April 1992, two days before the verdict of the Rodney King trial and the L.A. riots.[47] On February 28, 2022, the prequel, named Training Day: Day of the Riot has started production in California.[7]

See also[edit]

• Denzel Washington on screen and stage
• List of hood films
• Crown Vic (2019 film))

I figure this will not only help Apes look into and compare what BCG has done at other companies to what they did, or rather failed to do at Gamestop.
I didn't save the posts/comments, so feel free to name and link them...
- Taco Bell (I miss my Taco Salad and Mexi-Melts)
- someone said they are the reason Butterfinger doesn't taste as good anymore
u/ammoprofit has been doing an awesome job collecting DD on BCG https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/tnjmwf/bcg_research/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
the following are all from the research under the same post, and I wanna thank all the apes that did their homework so I could copy it... https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/tzx1p0/anyone_care_to_play_this_game/?sort=top
- ADT
- Circuit city
- Radioshack
- Rite Aid
- JC Penny
- Neiman Marcus
- Macy's
- GO GO GO
- Blackberry
- H&M
- Airtrans
- Woolworths
- Kohl's
- Ubisoft
- Atari
- FutureShop
- Dress for Less
- Nokia
- Shoe Carnival
- Ahold Delhaize(parent company of grocery chain Stop & Shop)
- Applebee's and IHOP (Dine Brands Global)
- Paypal
- Red Lobster
- Barnes & Nobel
- Lululemon
- Nektar Therapeutics
- Marks and Spencer

following few found by /u/PmMeWifeNudesUCuck/
- General Motors
- Pacific Gas and Electric Company
- CIT Group
- Enron (huh)
- Conseco
- MF Global

following few found by IEatSweetTeeth/
- Quiznos, Qdoba, and Taco Del Mar
https://www.nrn.com/people/quiznos-parent-taps-qdoba-veteran-chief-brand-officer
- Maybe Under Armour too
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-constantino-3aa29854
- Focus Brand group umbrella:
Auntie Anne’s, Cinnabon, Jamba, Moe’s Southwest Grill, McAlister’s Deli, and Schlotzsky’s
Added a BCG guy to their board of directors
https://www.focusbrands.com/focus-brands-announces-new-addition-to-board-of-directors/
Maybe they have a thing for chipotles competitors…
- Noodles and company

another Ape , /u/frickdom/ made this list...yes, it has duplicates to this list, but I want to preserve the list they made...
GameStop,
Bed Bath and Beyond,
Sears,
Tacobell,
Rite Aid,
Boeing,
Circuit City,
Radio Shack,
Lehman Brothers,
Spectrum,
Kroger’s,
Ascena,
Ann Taylor,
Neiman Marcus,
JC Pennys,
ADT
,KB Toys,
Toys R Us,
eToys,
USPS,
K-mart,
Ames,
AFM,
KLM Air France,
Enron,
Blockbuster,
MF Global
,24hour fitness,
Red lobster,
Tim Hortons,
Barnes and noble,
Lululemon,
UPS,
Pfizer,
Johnson and Johnson,
Moderna(?),
Amazon,
Walmart,
McDonald’s,
Disney.

Aenrichus/ said Kodak, Chrysler, and General Motors
They had a hand in ruining Kodak despite them inventing the first digital camera.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unsuccessful-crisis-leadership-tragic-downfall-kodak-eric-flamholtz
https://adamhartung.com/tag/kodak/page/4/
https://europe.autonews.com/article/20090414/ANE/304149975/treasury-pays-firm-7-million-to-assist-on-gm-chrysler-plans

bmhart17/ said LabCorp https://imgur.com/a/4qd97nB

AutoThorne/ said BCG attacking Canada https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-ottawa-working-with-us-consulting-firm-to-draw-early-plan-fo
Yattiel/ added this https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u12ibn/the_canadian_government_has_hired_bcg_wtf/

DMDTT/ said Fidelity Vice President and Head of HR previously worked at Boston Consulting a group https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u165gh/fidelity_vice_president_and_head_of_hr_previously/?sort=top

Kaiser1a2b/ sad NBN Co https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u15h3q/aussies_ever_wonder_why_nbn_is_so_shit/

Weedbro/ said KLM Air France https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u00viu/another_big_company_ruined_because_of_bcg_klm_ai

dweir82/ said Wollworths https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u1821g/bcg_partner_amitabh_mall_joins_woolworths_in/

bakedbeansandwhich/ said Telefonica https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u16ns2/bcg_connection_with_telefonica_a_company_with/
=========u/WHITE--PANTHER96 said BCG has some sister companies in France. https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u15vfu/bcg_has_some_sister_companies_in_france/
======u/HeRdERay said US Covid related contracts awarded to BCG https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u16rb5/us_covid_related_contracts_awarded_to_bcg/?sort=top======
u/Longjumping_College said This guy is connected to State Street, a European investment firm with half a trillion in assets, the Mercatus Center AND BCG https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u17pb6/this_guy_is_connected_to_state_street_a_european/

u/Longjumping_College BCG influencing Saudi Arabia https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u17f96/im_sure_this_is_fine/
=========u/Maleficent-Rub-4805 found a link between BCG consulting and Npower UK https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u15frp/ive_found_a_link_between_bcg_consulting_and/
=========u/Super_Share_8721 found NY Gov Cuomo hired BCG https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u1aowb/its_a_bold_strategy_cotton_lets_see_if_it_pays/

u/Upstairs_Sense2437 found BCG firms in Romaniahttps://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u15mn0/bcg_firm_in_romania_shady_af_headquarters/
=========u/lxUPDOGxl found BCG is attacking AUstralia https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u11q33/bcg_also_fucking_australia/

u/Independent-Ad4660 found Department of Veteran Affairs https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u16jd0/if_you_know_anything_about_the_department_of/?sort=top

u/Longjumping_College found BCG, Microsoft, the NYSE and Starbucks (lol) partnered to make a crypto exchange/wallet in 2018. They are financially connected to each other. Citadel, point 72 and Apollo all have ownership of the company.https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u0z1iy/bcg_microsoft_the_nyse_and_starbucks_lol/

u/itsabittricky found BCG attacked Sri Lanka https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/u0xoug/anybody_watching_the_news_of_sri_lankas_crumbling/

that's all for now, as of 3:21pm EST on April 11, 2022

packof18/ found World Wildlife Fund for Nature WWF https://wwf.panda.org/act/partner_with_wwf/corporate_partnerships/who_we_work_with/boston_consulting_group/ and
https://www.case48.com/bcg-case/17907-World-Wildlife-Fund-for-Nature-WWF

Successful-Visit-833/ found Lego https://www.bcg.com/publications/2017/people-organization-jorgen-vig-knudstorp-lego-growth-culture-not-kid-stuff

Gmatoshenriques said Ralph lauren
https://www.retaildive.com/news/ralph-lauren-unloads-club-monaco-to-private-equity/600122/
Former BCG consultant:
https://careers.bcg.com/blogarticle/fashion-industry-consulting

augh17/ said Activision/Blizzardhttps://imgur.com/a/IYx6pRxhttps://www.case48.com/bcg-matrix/5569-Activision-Blizzard-Inc

And it seems BCG is currently attacking Burger King and Subway...
If you have anymore names, please share.
This is not financial advice. I buy, I hold, I like to move it move it.