Florida mom was getaway driver for 15-year-old son in armed robbery, deputies say

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida mother and her 15-year-old son are both facing charges after he robbed a convenience store at gunpoint while she acted as the lookout and getaway driver, according to a Seminole County Sheriff's Office arrest report.

Amanda Meador is being charged with robbery with a firearm and neglect of a child in connection to the robbery, which happened Halloween night at a Circle K at the intersection of Red Bug Lake Road and Tuskawilla Road.

Meador drove her son and two others to the store, the arrest report states. It goes on to say that her teenage son allegedly entered the store wearing a mask and holding a firearm, and demanded money from a fearful cashier.

While the robbery was happening, Meador backed up her minivan to the store.

“(She) was a willing participant in that she knew that this armed robbery was going to happen, she served as a lookout and she was also there as this minor (escaped) from the store,” Seminole County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Bob Kealing said.

Surveillance cameras from the Circle K captured the entire robbery, but forensic evidence from a note containing Meador’s son’s fingerprints that was left behind led authorities to the arrest.

When deputies searched Meadors’ home in unincorporated Winter Park, they found a mask and clothing that matched what the robber wore during the robbery, according to the arrest report.

“Had the store clerk decided to use some force to defend themselves, this minor could have been injured or even killed,” Kealing said. “It was a terrible decision on (his mother’s) part.”