Woman called in fake robbery to free friend in Macomb Co. traffic stop, police say

A 28-year-old woman has been charged in connection with phoning in a fake armed robbery last month to free a friend in a traffic stop, the Macomb County Sheriff's Office said Monday.

Deputies pulled over a Dodge Durango without a license plate or headlights near Metro Parkway and Crocker Boulevard in Harrison Township around 9:30 p.m. Sept. 2. They learned the 30-year-old man driving the SUV had a suspended license as well as an arrest warrant for fraud, investigators said in a statement.

During the traffic stop, they learned of a reported armed robbery at a CVS on nearby Crocker and released the driver to respond, according to the release.

A woman who called 911 told a dispatcher two masked men wearing all black and sunglasses were holding an employee at gunpoint. The caller struggled to provide descriptions although saying she was watching from her car in the parking lot, then hung up, according to the recording sheriff's officials released Monday.

"Upon arrival, deputies quickly learned that there was no armed robbery at the business and all of the employees were in good health," authorities said.

Dispatch traced the 911 call to an address in Harrison Township; the cell phone number used was listed as belonging to Tressa Williams of Detroit.

Deputies found the Durango parked outside the home and spotted the man who had been stopped near the CVS but he refused to leave the house, the Sheriff's Office said.

Authorities impounded the vehicle, sought an arrest warrant for the driver and determined Williams allegedly was the caller.

Williams was arraigned Monday through 41-B District Court in Clinton Township on filing a false report of a felony.

Bond was set at $5,000. She is scheduled to return to court on Nov. 1.

The man is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 15 on one count of operating a vehicle with a suspended license. Authorities said his name would not be released until then.