RAW VIDEO: Mom Robs Lottery Parlor Clerk
RAW VIDEO: Mom Robs Lottery Parlor Clerk Save Email Print
Posted: 12:33 PM Jul 4, 2008
 Last Updated: 2:04 AM Jul 5, 2008
 Reporter: Amanda Barren
Email Address: Amanda.Barren@wsaz.com
28 comments
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CHARLESTON, W.VA., (WSAZ) -- St. Albans Police have released the surveillance video of a mom trying to rob a video lottery parlor clerk. You can see her put the gun to the clerks head. You cannot see her 2 children.

Melissa Spencer has admitted it wasn't a smart move to take her two children along for the heist Tuesday night. Now, she's in jail and the kids are with their fathers family.

"I wasn't thinking clearly, I was drinking. My son kept going on about a transformer- he's crazy about them," Spencer said in an interview Wednesday.

Spencer says she is on welfare and suffers from bipolar disorder. The condition is so serious she cannot work. Neighbors told WSAZ.com she was a dedicated mom who spent every minute of the day with her children. So much so Spencer says, she'd reached her breaking point.

"I couldn't do it no more. I had to do something for my kids it was stupid for me to do- taking them with me, but I didn't know what."

Spencer says she didn't discuss the robbery with her children she just took them along. She believes her 7 year old son knows what was going on. Her daughter is two.

Spencer says she didn't know where to turn for help. If you are feeling the same kind of pressures head over to the featured links section of WSAZ.com. You'll find places that can help you out.

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Posted by: SA on Jul 7, 2008 at 01:50 PM
They make meds for bi-polar disorder and I'm sure taxpayer dollars would have paid for them free. Take the kids and let her rot.
Posted by: Anonymous on Jul 6, 2008 at 08:37 PM
Yea cause Linda knows so much about foster care.... you guys really need to know what your talkin about
Posted by: anonomous on Jul 6, 2008 at 06:55 PM
well, she obviously made sure she had food to eat with her alcohol. no pitty!
Posted by: Linda on Jul 6, 2008 at 03:11 AM
Good grief. My child wants a toy, so I load up the gun, grab the kids and head to the store where I hold the gun to the clerks head and demand money? Please, lock this idiot up and keep those kids and guns far away from her!
Posted by: no pity on Jul 6, 2008 at 01:51 AM
I have no pity for this woman. She should have went and got a job like the rest of us! She could have worked! I see this all the time in the DHHR office. Mothers coming in saying they can't work just because they have children! I have 2 and work every day! So I have no pity for this woman! She needs to go to jail and her children with someone who can take care of them without putting them in danger!
Posted by: hu on Jul 5, 2008 at 10:56 PM
wow someone looks like they need to calm down.- crystal
Posted by: DEBBIE on Jul 5, 2008 at 09:24 PM
That is no excuse to rob a store, and put a gun to someones head. NO EXCUSE.If she is that bad , why does she have children, Bipolar people has jobs .I grew up poor and my momma never robbed no store for toys. what a excuse
Posted by: Mary on Jul 5, 2008 at 09:07 PM
I'm sorry but I'm just not going along with this pity party for Mellisa. I work at Lewies and was with Margaret minutes after she was robbed and words just cannot describe the condition she was in. If Mellisa thinks her son wanting a transformer justifies putting a gun to someones head she is alot sicker than anyone knows! She put the gun in her pocket and went to Lewies to commit the robbery, she knew what she was doing.
Posted by: Crystal on Jul 5, 2008 at 02:29 PM
You know what I agree with NO PITY NO EXCUSE!!WHERE did the child support go?!? I mean come on now..STOP drinking and buy your babies something from the dollar store...If they want a toy there ya go!!Also maybe her gun wasnt real but what if the clerk had pulled a gun in defense and shot 1 of those poor little babies?Some mother huh!!
Posted by: Anonymous on Jul 5, 2008 at 11:54 AM
she is crazy and she does have problems but dont we all go a lil crazy at times, im not a coldhearted person i hope she gets better. she knows what she did was wrong. some you people are just to harsh
Posted by: Anonymous on Jul 5, 2008 at 11:49 AM
i do feel bad for the clerk and i feel bad for the children also but i agree with elizabeth we should all pray fo mellisa... melissa knew that the gun was fake so she really isnt as crazy as everyone thinks she is, she obviously wasnt planning on killing anyone... hopefully some time in jail will help her out and hopefully god will help her too... I hope she gets her life back together and gets her kids back, a mistake can always be forgiven
Posted by: Beth on Jul 5, 2008 at 10:06 AM
i don't feel sorry for her nor pity. Take the kids away from her and lock her up in a mental hospital. I do feel sorry for the clerk, can not imagine what she went through when this lady did that to her.
Posted by: NO PITY NO EXCUSE on Jul 5, 2008 at 12:45 AM
WHAT WAS SHE THINKING??NOT A BAD PERSON WHAT IS A BAD PERSON??I AM A MOTHER OF TWO DON'T DRINK DON'T DO DRUGS AND WORK EVERYDAY AND JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE BI-POLAR...NO I CAN'T SPOIL MY KIDS BUT I TRY I DON'T ROB NO ONE I DON'T GO CRAZY...SHE DESERVES THE MAX...WHY CAN'T SHE WORK???IT IS SIMPLE THEY MAKE EASY JOBS...AND WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDRENS CHILD SUPPORT DOES IT GO FOR HER ALCOHOL TOOO.THAT IS FOR THEIR USE WERE DID IT GO...I THINK MANY FATHERS OR MOTHERS WHO PAYS CHILD SUPPORT AGREES...LIFE IS NOT EASY QUIT LIVING OFF OF MONTHLY INCOME AND USING YOUR KIDS TO GET WHAT YOU WANT AND GET A LIFE SOMETHING YOU NEED LADY THEN JOIN US IN THE WORK FIELD....
Posted by: P.A. on Jul 4, 2008 at 10:06 PM
Looks like a real gun on video...i'm sure the lady that had it to her head thought it was a real gun. I know it would've scared me to death, so don't forget about the victim!!
Posted by: Anonymous on Jul 4, 2008 at 09:00 PM
OMG!! I just watched the video. If the gun would have went off would she still say she just made a bad decision. That poor woman who is working for a living could have lost her life. Lock her up and throw away the key.
Posted by: green on Jul 4, 2008 at 08:56 PM
I do believe she needed help. Everyone makes bad decisions. But no matter how bad things get you have no right to take what isn't yours. And I keep wondering: If money is so sparse, why are you spending it on alcohol? Another bad decision I guess, but one I find hard to understand. And I guess that is judging, but I find it difficult to sympathize with someone who steals and terrorizes some poor clerk in the process, and claim they did it because they didn't know what else to do when they wasted the money they did have on booze. Again, I agree this is judgmental of me. But as a human being it is a question I can't help but ask and one that will probably be brought up in court. I do believe she is a good person in a bad situation. And I feel sorry for her. But sometimes, you do have to pay for your mistakes.
Posted by: Brent on Jul 4, 2008 at 08:07 PM
There is no excuse in the world for what this person did. She not only put the clerks life in danger, but she has distroyed the lives of her children. Regardless of this womans normal character, she must now pay up for what she has done. Im very happy to see my tax dollars go towards locking people like this up for a long time. If that was my daughter or wife that had a gun stuck to her head for whatever reason ... I would push for the max on what this crime passes out.
Posted by: lw on Jul 4, 2008 at 08:07 PM
she has it so bad.while the rest of the world works and some working two jobs to pay for her welfare. she finds the money to buy alcohol and drive her kids around looking for someone to rob.if she would have came to your house and robbed you of your hard earned money you would know what the women she robbed just trying to make a living at that business felt like having a gun placed to the side of here head felt like.
Posted by: Video Lottery Guy on Jul 4, 2008 at 08:05 PM
Hey Eliazbeth, ask the lady that had the gun to her head in that crazy B is a bad person or not. Melissa would have had her brains splatted on the wall at my location. You're nuts!
Posted by: M. S. on Jul 4, 2008 at 07:54 PM
She is a bad person. Good people do not put guns to peoples heads.
Posted by: ivory on Jul 4, 2008 at 05:44 PM
Are you kidding me, that women needs those children tooken away from her, and placed in a mental hospital, what if she flips out on her children, put her away!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: jim joy on Jul 4, 2008 at 05:29 PM
poor poor women, whay can't we all feel sorry for her? she is on welfare ,she is bipolor , she needs all of our help. oh wait we already do this is where our tax dollors go to , to keep people like this on welfare and they can get everything they want. i have no problem for the people that need it but if she can go and get a gun , then she can go and get a job , feel sorry for her ,what ever! we should all go on welfare and expect that we can go break the law ,and all will be forgiven
Posted by: me on Jul 4, 2008 at 05:16 PM
judge her please . who do u think will be judging her when she goes before a judge that sentence her..bipolar or not stupid is stupid does. my sister is bipolar and she dont act like that. she had money for beer but she couldnt afford her son a transformer. something wrong with that picture.
Posted by: Andi on Jul 4, 2008 at 04:45 PM
Not a bad person! She held a gun to someones head. Yes I know it wasn't a real gun but still you don't do that! She should be in prison for a long time and her children need to be in the care of someone else.
Posted by: Anonymous on Jul 4, 2008 at 04:39 PM
good thing she wasn't robbing me.i carry a real gun.
Posted by: A MOM on Jul 4, 2008 at 03:53 PM
Great Job to the Saint Albans Police! How is robbing a store a better life for your kids and taking them along letting them see this? Is this what WONDERFUL people do? She says was getting welfare on top of it,and HUD most likely paid her rent and I bet she even had a car to drive to the store she robbed! The kids deserve help in this case,but the mother was helping her selfish &%S self! She is not telling the truth! I think she meant to feed her habit or she didn't want her kids because they were in the way of her wanted life style! People like this make me sick! She says her 7 and 2yr.old children led to her a breaking point! What an excuse blaming them! She says she was looking for help,sounds like she was getting it and then some! Some mothers have it hard,but don't blame your kids,you had them,they didn't have you. These are your babies for crying out loud! Now she wants pity! BOO HOO, P#%S on her!
Posted by: Elizabeth on Jul 4, 2008 at 03:36 PM
melissa is not a bad person,she made a bad decisin..instead of people judging her why dont you pray for her..leave the judging to the judge and god..
Posted by: Shut up on Jul 4, 2008 at 01:11 PM
This lady's lawyer should remind her that every word she says will be used to put her far far away from her children. Best advice, shut up!
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