First a robbery, then a standoff; woman faces multiple charges

The woman who was arrested last week in Lexington after a standoff on Versailles Road was indicted Tuesday in connection with the armed robbery of a Franklin County grocery.

Robin Holbert, 46, of Lawrenceburg was indicted on charges of first-degree robbery, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, and being a persistent felony offender.

The robbery happened the night of Oct. 23 at Evergreen Market, a grocery south of Frankfort, said Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton.

When deputies arrived, the clerk told them that a woman entered wearing a white hat with sunglasses and appeared to have had her face and arms covered in white paint or powder.

The employee said the woman pointed a handgun at him, demanded money from the cash register, threatened to shoot him if he didn’t hand over the money, then fled in a car toward U.S. 127.

Melton said tips called into police had identified Holbert as a suspect in the robbery.

“We had a lot of tips come in that it was her,” Melton said. “Detectives went in and interviewed her and wound up getting a confession from her that she robbed the Evergreen Market.”

Holbert was carrying a BB gun when she allegedly provoked a standoff with police that closed a section of Versailles Road on Oct. 25, two days after the Franklin County robbery.

Lexington police originally thought she had a real gun during the standoff that started after police tried to pull her over at Versailles Road and Delmont Drive. Holbert’s vehicle was previously reported stolen. She later told police she recently bought it on Craigslist.

She pointed the BB gun in the air and at herself while being chased by an officer, according to the police report. Police backed off, and Holbert walked to the porch of a vacant house where she stayed for about two hours while a sergeant negotiated with her.

Holbert has been convicted of other offenses elsewhere in the state, including identity theft in Kenton County, and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud/false statement forgery in Fayette, Jefferson and Franklin counties.

Detective Riley Kennedy with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office was the witness who testified before the grand jury on the robbery and other latest charges.

Holbert remains in the Fayette County Detention Center.

This story was originally published November 1, 2016 at 3:42 PM with the headline "First a robbery, then a standoff; woman faces multiple charges."