Dollar General manager accused of staging robbery to fund bail money

A Dollar General manager in Charleston was accused of turning a store robbery call into a fabricated emergency, a case that puts store-level trust and cash-handling pressure in sharp relief.

Charleston police said the reported robbery happened shortly after 9 a.m. on April 13 at the Dollar General at 1096 Clements Ferry Road. Officers were told that an unknown man entered the store, kept his hand under his shirt to imply he had a gun, and demanded money. Investigators later said they found inconsistencies in the account and concluded that the manager, Jeromainya Keyanni Pinckney, 25, of North Charleston, staged the robbery.

Police said the motive was to get money to bail an acquaintance out of jail. Pinckney was charged with breach of trust with fraudulent intent, conspiracy, and filing a false police report. The South Carolina Judicial Branch classifies breach of trust with fraudulent intent, when the value is more than $2,000 but less than $10,000, as a felony offense class F. South Carolina law also makes it unlawful to knowingly file a false police report and allows restitution to the investigating agency for costs tied to the false report.

For Dollar General workers, the fallout reaches beyond one arrest. A staged robbery can pull managers, associates, police, and emergency responders into a false crisis, then leave the store to deal with the disruption, the paperwork, and the uncertainty that follows. In a chain where store teams already juggle tight staffing, cash controls, and safety procedures, a case like this raises a blunt question: what happens to workplace trust when leadership itself is accused of manufacturing an incident?

Dollar General’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics says the company does not tolerate illegal or unethical conduct and may take disciplinary action and report misconduct to authorities. The Charleston Police Department said the investigation remained active and asked the public to call Sgt. C. Stinson at 843-720-2422 or submit anonymous tips through the city’s tip line.

The store at 1096 Clements Ferry Rd., Charleston, SC 29492-7752 is one more reminder that at Dollar General, security is not only about outside threats. It is also about the people inside the store, the accuracy of the reports they make, and the burden placed on coworkers when leadership becomes the source of the disruption.