ALTUS -- Three Altus women -- one of them the clerk on duty at a west central convenience store where a robbery was staged Wednesday night -- are behind bars on embezzlement charges.

Julaine Louise Swoboda, 18, of 309 Rochester, and Ashley Nicole Kay, 20, and Christa Jean Tipton, 18, both of 321 W. Broadway #3, were booked into the Jackson County Jail early this morning, all three charged with embezzlement, and Swoboda slapped with an additional charge of false reporting of a crime.

According to a police report, officers responded to a robbery call at 10 p.m. from Mr. Bill's Gas & Food, 401 W. Broadway. Swoboda, the clerk, allegedly told police that a white male, about 5 feet 6 inches tall, wearing a black and white hooded sweatshirt and a stocking cap entered the store waving a steak knife at her and telling her to give him the (expletive) money. She said the man told her to put the money in a paper sack.

Upon further questioning, police learned that Kay and Tipton were in on the alleged plot to steal the money -- $687.57 -- and two cartons of cigarettes from the store, and the two were discovered in their apartment across the street.

The three women are being held without bond until their initial appearance Friday in District Court.