A man was still on the run after stealing thousands of dollars from a Clarksville store intended to help patients at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.
Montgomery County Sheriff’s investigators said 37-year-old Ronald Dye broke into the Fred’s store on Highway 149 sometime Wednesday morning. He entered the store through the stock room door, disabled the alarm and phone system, and stole cigarettes and a safe from the front of the store.
The safe contained $5867 in cash, $2000 of which was money raised by Fred’s employees to help patients at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.
The store manager said the store does the fundraiser annually and collects money from bake sales, cookouts, and donations from customers.
“We collected quite a bit [of money],” said Cindy Ellis, a sales associate at Fred’s. “It’s for the children and families who can’t afford treatment. We worked hard to save that money.”
Montgomery County Investigator Cody Lannom said Dye loaded the safe into a 2002 Ford Winstar van that was waiting outside the store and was driven by his wife, Ashley Dye. She has been arrested and charged with accessory after the fact. She was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on a $10,000 bond.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Ronald Dye for burglary. His bond has been set at $75,000.
“We will try and use every resource we can to find him and bring him in,” said Lannom. “It’s just a matter of time before we catch him.”
The manager said the store hasn’t had any problems with burglaries, and this news has really rattled employees.
Anyone with information on the location of Ronald Dye has been asked to call Investigator Cody Lannom at 931-648-0611, ext. 13421 or Crime Stoppers at 931-645-TIPS (931-645-8477).
