Ex-cop gets six years for Roswell restaurant heist
Woman, with accomplice, robbed fast-food eatery
A former Roswell police officer was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison for her role in the 2016 armed robbery of a fast-food restaurant.
Twelfth Judicial District Attorney John P. Sugg announced the sentencing of Valerie Palombi, 27, and detailed the incident.
On June 28, 2016, the Roswell Police Department was dispatched to an armed robbery at the Subway restaurant at 2901 N. Main. Detectives learned that two employees at the restaurant were held at gunpoint by a man, later identified as Kevin Blake, Sugg said in a news release.
The investigation showed that Blake went into the store and ordered a sandwich. When one of the employees turned to grab the bread, Blake pulled a handgun from his right pocket and pointed the gun at the employee, Sugg said. Blake then walked the employee to the back of the restaurant, where another employee was washing dishes. He ordered the two employees to get on the floor and threatened to shoot them if they moved, according to the release.
While Blake was holding the two employees at gunpoint in the back room, a woman entered the restaurant and removed about $600 from the register. The woman was later identified as Palombi, a former Roswell police officer, Sugg said. After Palombi emptied the register, she and Blake f led.
Blake, 27, pleaded guilty to armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery on Aug. 16, 2017. On March 12, 2019, he was sentenced to serve 6½ years in prison, followed by five years of probation.
Palombi was found guilty of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and two counts of resisting an officer after a three-day jury trial in February. Palombi will be required to serve at least 85 percent of her six-year sentence imposed by 5th Judicial District Judge James M. Hudson, according to Sugg. She’ll also be required to serve five years of supervised probation after she’s released.