Community Chat

[Maggie Nolia]

Georgia girls robbed of $150 at lemonade stand

Associated Press

11:30 p.m. Monday, April 11, 2011

WARNER ROBINS — Three girls selling lemonade to raise money for a hospitalized toddler were robbed of about $150 at their stand in central Georgia, authorities said.

A man and woman approached the girls Saturday afternoon and asked them about their lemonade stand, Houston County sheriff's Lt. Jon Holland said.

A 13-year-old girl was holding the jar containing the money when the man snatched it from her, Holland said.

Amber Umbarger, 21, of Warner Robins was arrested in the area, and deputies are searching for a male suspect, authorities told WMAZ-TV. Holland said both face charges of robbery by sudden snatching.

Holland was not sure whether Umbarger has an attorney, and a phone listing for her could not be located Monday.

The children were trying to raise money for a cousin of one of the girls, a 2-year-old who will soon undergo treatment for an intestinal disease.

The money was intended to help the family of the toddler travel to Ohio to accompany the child during his upcoming treatment at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, WMAZ reported.

Holland says the girls are still shaken.

"It's a first," Holland told The Associated Press. "I've been involved in criminal investigations since 1991 and I've never had a case where a child at a lemonade stand has been robbed."