A woman attending a dance recital at a church on North Landford Road in Spartanburg told police she was robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot, and that the armed man who took her money told her to have a blessed day before driving off. Police say the detail that cracked the case was something the suspect never saw coming: the victim memorized his license plate.
According to the account reported by FOX Carolina, the woman had noticed a silver Chevrolet Malibu with dark-tinted windows backed into a space two spots from her own car, its lights left on. She walked over to see who was inside, then turned to head back toward the church. That is when a man in a gray hoodie ran toward her carrying a gun.
The suspect threatened her, telling her, according to the incident report cited by the station, to give him her money or he would kill her. He went further, claiming he had already killed two people and that there were no cameras nearby to catch what happened next.
She Offered Her Keys, He Wanted Cash
The woman initially told the suspect her purse was inside her vehicle and offered to leave him her car keys instead of handing over cash directly. Instead, she returned to her car, retrieved her purse, and handed the suspect money.
With the robbery complete, the gunman did something police say left a lasting impression: he returned her keys, told her to have a blessed day, then got back into his car and drove off, per the report relayed by the station.
A Memorized Plate Leads to an Arrest
Rather than panic, the woman held onto one crucial detail — the vehicle's license plate number. That information, police said, helped officers identify the suspect as 26-year-old Demarieia Quartez Collins. Collins was taken to the Spartanburg County jail and charged with armed robbery, the station reported.
The incident adds to a string of armed robberies and carjackings reported across the Upstate over time. In Spartanburg, a suspect allegedly carjacked a restaurant employee's Jeep at gunpoint in a parking lot after fleeing toward Texas Roadhouse, according to a separate FOX Carolina report. And at Kensington Manor Apartments in Spartanburg, a man was accused of placing a handgun against the back of an Uber Eats delivery driver's head during an armed carjacking, per a report from WSPA.
Elsewhere in the Upstate, WSPA also reported that a woman was robbed at gunpoint in the Dillard's parking garage at Haywood Mall, with a second woman robbed soon after at the Parkside at Verdae apartments on Woodruff Road.
