Jensen Wendy's worker accused of staging heist to cut shift short
By Gabriel Margasak staff writer
March 26, 2004
JENSEN BEACH — A fast-food worker who wanted to leave work early ordered herself a trip to jail this week after she staged a robbery at the restaurant, authorities say.
Her big mistake was allowing her boss to meet her cousin — before he robbed the store.
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"That does go in the hall of fame of stupid robberies," said Wendy's manager William Evans Jr., 21.
Wendy's employee Tanya Marie Hensley, 19, was charged Wednesday with armed robbery in the Feb. 23 incident at the Jensen Beach Boulevard store, court records released Thursday show.
Her cousin, identified by authorities as Dustin Laird, was caught in Missouri, where he was being held, officials said.
A Martin County sheriff's detective reported Hensley "pleaded" with her boss to let her leave at 10:30 p.m., but Evans said she would have to stay until closing.
After refusing the request, Evans talked to Hensley, her cousin and others in the dining room of the restaurant.
"I tried to be nice and ask them questions. I got his voice stuck in my brain," Evans said.
He said Hensley continued asking for breaks and to leave early but finally gave up.
"Five minutes after she came from the back, the guy came from the back and pointed the gun," he said.
It was about 10:30 p.m. — the time Hensley wanted to leave.
"The guy was covered all up," Evans said, but his voice did him in. "That's mostly how I got it. The cousin's voice was a pretty deep voice. The guy who robbed me's voice was pretty deep."
Evans said Hensley was allowed to continue to work at Wendy's while detectives investigated the incident.
Another Wendy's employee came forward to tell investigators Hensley confessed to unlocking the door for her cousin. She quit a few days before her arrest, Evans said.
Hensley, of the 2400 block of Indian River Drive, was being held Thursday at the Martin County Jail on $40,000 bail.
For Evans, the whole robbery, which netted about $700, was just plain dumb.
"It's a stupid amount to get convicted for," he said.
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