By Joe Johnson
A man and woman were recently indicted for an armed robbery three months ago that allegedly was set up by the woman at her home at Hallmark Estates mobile home park.
Bruce Lamar Coleman Jr., 32, and Yolanda Dolores Smith, 26, were each charged with armed robbery, aggravated assault and felony theft by taking, according to a grand jury indictment that was filed Feb. 18 in Clarke County Superior Court.
The indictment additionally charges Coleman with possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
According to an Athens-Clarke County police report, the 41-year-old victim appeared to be in a relationship with Smith. On the date of the incident, Nov. 23, he reportedly went to Smith’s trailer at Hallmark Estates to give her money for an apartment.
Upon returning from borrowing the victim’s truck for a short period of time, Smith told the victim to clean the bathroom so that they could take a shower, according to the report.
The victim reportedly told police that moments after he began to clean, Coleman entered the bathroom and struck him in the head several times with a handgun while threatening to kill the victim if he did not surrender all of his money.
The victim said he gave Coleman $60 that he had on him, but a wallet containing $2,300 was taken from a jacket that was in his truck, according to the police report.
Although the victim told police he had never seen Coleman before, he identified the suspect as Smith’s brother, according to the report.
The victim told police that he later called Smith to ask why she had set him up, the report noted, and Smith denied having any knowledge of him being set up.
“Ms. Smith has taken money from him in the past, but never by force or this much money,” according to the report.
Smith was arrested the day of the incident and Coleman was booked into the county jail on Jan. 21. The jail listed him as being homeless.
Smith was released this month on a $6,000 good security bond and Coleman as of Friday continued to be detained without bond.
Both are scheduled to be arraigned on March 30.