GREENFIELD — A Greenfield man will serve time in prison after he admitted to robbing a stranger at gunpoint after his friend used Facebook messages to lure the victim to Hancock County.
Cameron M. Werden, 22, 1849 S. County Road 100E, Greenfield, was ordered this week to serve seven years in an Indiana Department of Correction facility after pleading guilty to robbery.
His accomplice, Shala Barnes, 20, 3851 S. County Road 450W, New Palestine, will serve three years in a Hancock County Community Corrections program for her role in the robbery, records show.
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The victim told police he exchanged messages with Barnes on social media late last year when she asked him to come to her New Palestine home, according to court documents.
When the man arrived, Werden robbed him at gunpoint, threatened him with a pistol and fired a shot into the air when he didn’t comply with demands to hand over money, the victim said, according to court documents.
Werden this week pleaded guilty to robbery while armed with a deadly weapon, a Level 3 felony, as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. He agreed to serve seven years in prison and one year on probation as punishment.
Prosecutors dropped four other felony counts in exchange for Werden’s guilty plea: one Level 3 felony count of conspiracy to commit robbery; one Level 5 felony count of intimidation; one Level 6 felony count of criminal recklessness while armed with a deadly weapon; and one Level 6 felony count of pointing a firearm, records show.
Last week, Barnes pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, also a Level 3 felony, and she will spend three years in community corrections as a result. Prosecutors dropped one charge of robbery as a Level 3 felony as part of the agreement Barnes accepted, records show.
The incident occurred early Dec. 19.
Barnes immediately told police Werden planned the robbery just prior to the victim arriving in Hancock County, court documents state. Barnes said she watched from inside her house as Werden threatened the victim.
The victim and Barnes had exchanged messages on Facebook, and the man drove to Barnes’ home at her request, according to court documents.
Barnes told investigators that Werden saw a photograph of the man as she was exchanging messages with him and asked, “Does he have money?,” court documents state.
Barnes told police Werden told her, “I’m robbing him. I have a gun, and I’m going to take everything he has,” court documents state.
When the victim arrived, Werden walked up the man’s car, yelled and pointed a gun at him while demanding he hand over money, the victim told police, according to court documents.
Werden fired a shot into the air when the victim didn’t move quickly enough and shouted, “He wasn’t playing around,” the victim said to police, according to court documents.