HARRISON TWP. — The reported armed robbery at a Harrison Twp. bar this week appears to be a case of fake news, Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck said Thursday, and his office is prepared to prove that in court.
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The suspected culprit is a bartender at the Green Leaf Inn, identified as 31-year-old Dani Renee Eyler.
According to the sheriff’s investigators, a bartender called 9-1-1 just after 2 a.m. Wednesday to report she had been the victim of an armed robbery. Deputies arriving minutes later at the business, in the 4200 block of North Dixie Drive, found something much different than what the caller described.
According to audio of the 9-1-1 call obtained by News Center 7, the caller -- identified as Eyler -- told an operator she was in the back of the business “counting my money” when a person with a gun entered the business.
“I hurt my foot when they, when he came in,” Eyler told the operator.
Eyler also said she has “five babies. I just need someone to hurry up.”
The problem, Sheriff Streck told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell, the robbery “was actually all set up by the bartender. In fact, it appears she went throughout the bar collecting the money.”
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Streck said he is upset because of the danger the false emergency call created, as well as hours of overtime for detectives, deputies and evidence technicians.
“Without being too specific, it appears they did try to do a little act because cameras were involved,” the sheriff said.
Detectives have managed to track down all of the stolen money and have returned it to the bar’s owner.
Streck said he is thankful his detectives could see through a performance that he said did not deserve an Academy Award.
" It does not appear a proper job of acting was completed here through all this,” he said.
Eyler remains in the Montgomery County Jail, detained on suspicion of making false alarms. She was expected to make her first court appearance this afternoon.
Sheriffs investigators may elect to speak with county prosecutors about pursuing more charges against Eyler.