Suspect identified after Wichita parking confrontation admits to robbing Family Dollar

The suspect in a Family Dollar store robbery has admitted to the crime after he was captured with the help of a parking spot confrontation.

Toney D. Williams, 25, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to one count of robbery, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said in a news release. He admitted in his plea that he used a handgun to rob the Family Dollar at 2301 S. Seneca on Oct. 1.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 13, and prosecutors and defense attorneys will recommend a sentence of 84 months, or 7 years, in prison.

Williams was originally charged with two counts of obstructing commerce by robbery and two counts of using a firearm in a crime of violence.

A Wichita police detective who is a Federal Bureau of Investigation task force officer detailed the investigation in an affidavit filed in court.

Investigators working the Oct. 1 robbery connected it with an Oct. 3 robbery at the Family Dollar store at 1031 S. Meridian. A detective spoke with someone who had an office space at a building about a block from the store.

That person told the cops “about confronting a black male who backed into a parking space in the parking lot ... and walked away” around the same time as the robbery, according to court documents.

The detective use a security camera video to identify the getaway car, which was stopped by two WPD officers the next day. When police questioned Williams, he said he used a .22 caliber pistol that wasn’t loaded during the robberies. He said he gave away some of the money and also bought food and drinks.

After his arrest, police said that Williams, of Topeka, had recently been paroled to Sedgwick County for a crime committed elsewhere. Kansas Department of Corrections records show he has a prior conviction in Shawnee County of criminal possession of a weapon by a felon.

This story was originally published January 13, 2020 at 2:04 PM.