From Roanoke City Police: On September 13, 2014 at 11:43 a.m. Roanoke Police were dispatched to the 1400 block of Towne Square Boulevard NW, the Sam’s Club, to investigate a report of a woman found injured in the parking lot. The victim, an 83-year-old woman from Roanoke, was transported to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for treatment of minor injuries. Further investigation determined the victim was putting groceries into her vehicle when a woman grabbed her purse from the victim’s shopping cart, and then got into the passenger seat of a waiting pick-up truck. The victim, attempting to retrieve her purse, grabbed on to a portion of the pick-up truck and was dragged a short distance before falling to the parking lot. The suspect vehicle drove away. Detectives retrieved video surveillance, developed several leads and were able to determine the identity of the suspects. On September 15th, officers took Dallas Michelle Robson, age 35, of Roanoke into custody and charged her with larceny and possession of heroin. Heroin use was one of the factors that motivated the crime. The victim’s credit card and checks were used to obtain merchandise from various stores and attempts were made to obtain money in Roanoke City, Roanoke County, and Vinton. Officers are attempting to locate the second suspect, Traci Jo Plessinger, age 49, of Copper Hill. At this time detectives believe Plessinger is the one who took the purse from the victim’s shopping cart.
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Warrants have been obtained for Plessinger for larceny related to this incident, and obtaining money by false pretenses and forgery and uttering in relation to a separate incident. Additional charges are expected to be placed against both suspects. Detectives have been consulting with the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office to see if additional charges are appropriate related to the victim’s injuries. If you have any information on the whereabouts of Traci Jo Plessinger, please call 911 or the Roanoke Valley Crime Line at 540-344-8500. Tips are anonymous and rewards are offered for the right information.
