Deputies: Couple robbed 11-year-old girl of $5

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. (WFLA) – A woman and her boyfriend are accused of robbing an 11-year-old girl of $5 as she walked home from a Dollar General store.

Hernando County Sheriff’s Office investigators say on Saturday, Nov. 21, the girl was walking home from a Dollar General store when she was approached by Courtney Barter, 25, and her boyfriend Nathaniel Prater, 21.

The girl told deputies that Courtney Barter told her “Give me all you have.”

The girl gave her a $5 bill, which was all she had left after shopping at the store. Barter allegedly snatched the bill from her hand and gave it to Prater. The pair then ran away.

The girl used her cell phone to call her father to tell him what happened. She told deputies that she thought Barter and Prater ran toward their home.

Deputies found the pair walking. Deputies say Prater had a glass pipe with him and a razor blade with electrical tape on one end that served as a make-shift handle. Prater threw the pipe under the deputies’ patrol car.

Prater allegedly told the deputies “She took the money, not me!”

Deputies say Barter confessed to stealing the $5 from the child, but said she was only joking and intended to give the money back to her.

The glass pipe had white residue inside and tested positive as methamphetamine, according to an arrest affidavit.

Prater was charged with robbery sudden snatching, possessing drug paraphernalia and carrying a concealed weapon. Barter was charged with robbery sudden snatching.

Both were transported to the Hernando County Jail.