NASHVILLE — The FBI is actively assisting in the investigation of a couple suspected in numerous robberies of grocery stores in Nashville, other parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. Monray Vontez Johnson, 18, and Christie Lynn Spears, 37, are presently charged in state court with the October 17, 2015 robbery of the Kroger store at 143 McGavock Pike. Johnson is additionally charged with the October 21, 2015 robbery of the Kmart store at 1508 S. Gallatin Pike. The two, however, may ultimately be prosecuted federally.
Information developed by MNPD Gang Unit Detective Ryan Fink led to the identification of Johnson as a man believed responsible for a string of robberies in which store clerks at customer service counters received telephone calls ordering them to give the man standing near them (alleged to be Johnson) cash or be shot.
The scenario played out three times in Nashville last October at two Kroger stores and one Kmart. The crime was attempted without success at the Publix store on Royal Oaks Boulevard in Franklin on December 26th. Two stores in Smyrna, the Publix on Presidents Place, and the Food Lion on Old Nashville Highway, were hit on December 18th and December 27th.
Johnson and Spears were booked into the Metro Jail early Wednesday after being interviewed by detectives from the Metro, Franklin and Smyrna police departments. The investigation remains active. Additional arrests and charges are anticipated.
