Do you know the total dollar amount of money you took? He told me to. How much do you think you took? Okay. From time to time, I I I took something and I I I give it to people. Okay. See, make a gift to make me feel good, I guess. I don't know. It's either I know them and they just come in to shop and they see me there and that's just what I do. I don't call nobody. Like I I I don't know. Every employer hopes their workers are honest and responsible. Unfortunately, many bosses suffer losses because of thieving employees. They steal cash from the register, gift cards, expensive merchandise, and even cars. So, when workers get busted for stealing midshift, employers never hesitate to call the police. Bro, don't touch me. I got to get my I got to get my stuff. Oh, I'm not even I did not steal anything. On November 24th, 2023, the police were dispatched in response to a Walmart employee who had been stealing money from the register. After locating the suspect, officers separated her from the rest of the staff. Initially, the woman acted calmly and cooperatively. [Music] All right. They So, uh, they got you on camera. Basically taking money from the register, putting it in your pocket. Money? Where? Yeah, they got you on camera. While officers searched the suspect, Deja, she pretended to be innocent. They mostly found personal items among her belongings. Not surprisingly, at the bottom of her pocket, there were folded bills which she was forced to hand over. Would you be able to empty out your pockets? My money. Okay. Can you take that off? Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir. I see it. Anything else in your pocket? No, sir. Okay. I'm going to place your items right there. I'm going to have you turn and face the wall right here. I'm going to pat you down. Normally, workers who steal mid shift are quick to dismiss any accusation. They don't want to incriminate themselves, especially when there's no clear evidence. While Deja tried to act confident and relaxed in order to appear innocent, the officer revealed the evidence. I have my own money. Okay. Well, I mean, it's on camera. Can I see for myself? I'm going to show you the pictures just to show there's a camera like literally right. I know. I know that. Of course. So, here's the times that I guess you were taking it uh the other days, right? the other days. Okay, I can't see nothing. I see me putting taking money out. The police invited one of Deja's co-workers to speak with her. He laid out the situation and told her she'd been caught. The coworker then asked her to make a statement about the missing money from the cash register. So, you're going to listen to what this gentleman's been telling you to do. Okay? Right now, you're at work. What I'm going to need you to do is uh write a statement about why you have this money and explain to us what has happened on these previous days of how how can I know what happened if it looked like I'm taking money out the door. I'm just letting you know it's all on video. Okay. So, I need you to write a statement about what is happening. Yeah. But this money that we have missing from your registers that you Okay. Like what do I I'm right. I hear him. I hear him. Okay. Like y'all going to make me mad. I'm being calm right now because I'm trying to see what's wrong. We're being calm, too. We're just explaining what you need to do. Okay. I'm just letting you know. This is all documentation of all this is all documentation of money has been taken from the register that you worked on. Okay. These are still photos. Yes. And we do have videos of it. Okay. So, we're not just just cuz these still photos are showing what where your hands are at. It's not changing anything from the video. I didn't take anything. Just letting you know we already have a documented a video and everything of you getting the money. Okay. Okay. The woman refused to write a statement, but that wouldn't help her walk away clean. The store had video evidence clearly showing her stealing over $500 from the register on different days and during separate incidents. No employer would tolerate a thief among their workers, and stealing is an offense that usually leads to immediate termination. That's why Deja was forced to hand her work clothes and items over. Fortunately, she complied and did that without protest. Now, you can remove your vest. Okay. That's all my property. Do you have a work phone? Yeah, I do. Okay. So, you can put that vest, your work phone here. Place it right here. Did you get a discount card yet? No, I did. Okay. So, the work vest and uh your ID and your work phone can you can place it right here. Okay. So y'all seeing that I took something else y'all doing or we're not saying you know it's on video you know although she was already informed she was going to be arrested Deja firmly refused to surrender to the police. And while she wasn't that bad at acting innocent unfortunately for her this is not the first time these cops dealt with thieves. Bro, don't touch me. I got to get my I got to get my stuff. Oh, I'm not even Oh, I did not steal anything. Okay. Okay. Okay. I got you. Okay. You just broke my Okay. Okay. Can I turn around? Stop. you. Give me your hands. Put your hands behind your head. You're hurting me. No, he's hurting me. Serious resisting. What you mean? It's going to turn around cuz I get my belongings. What you mean? Get off the ground. Stop resisting. Deja's resistance resulted in a minor injury. Her nail was broken and her fingers were bleeding. The same fingers she used to steal the money. Deéja was trying to paint herself as a victim of police brutality, but that narrative was contradicted by how calmly the police treated her. Stop doing broke my Yes. 32 son of 52. She's bleeding. You did it. Cuz you were. No, I didn't. Yes, you did. No, I promise I didn't. Okay. It burn. We can't touch it. Stop touching up your hands. I It burn me. Like I'm not doing any of y'all. I already got me in the handcuff. Where can I go? You're getting an ambulance to get checked out. Just calm down. What? Like that don't even make sense. Y'all hurt me and then put me in an ambulance. What? Despite Deja's aggressive behavior, the cops remained professional with her. They showed patience and understanding while trying to calm her down. One of them even wiped her bleeding hands with a tissue. Are you going to be calm? Yes. All right. Thank you. Time to raise it, please. You'll be on middle and the officers called an ambulance to take care of Deja's minor injury. When the medics arrived, they immediately attended to her. Still playing the victim, she rushed to complain to them. her nail. They broke my nail. Six. They broke my nail. Okay, that's really it. Okay. Yes. Thank you. Good. Um, you want to go to the hospital and get checked out? No. How about we cover that up so it doesn't bleed all over? Okay, sounds good. Can I get my belongus? I have your phone. No, I have my coat. I have my purse. I have it all. that at that's in the back in the the the room. Is it like your coat? I'm sorry. It burns a little. Okay. What color is your coat? Go grab it. It's it's a it's a black long coat and it got fur like inside the break room. Yes, it's inside the break room in a in a closet. And my purse is like inside the coat like this had until the very end. Deja kept insisting that she was innocent. She claimed the cash found on her had been withdrawn from an ATM, though she couldn't prove the transaction with a receipt. After that, she was transported to jail for questioning. We're ready to transport. Will you behave? Will you be good? Okay. Just watch your head. Okay. I'm going to put a seat belt over you. Okay. There you go. Tell them it's fine. It's fine. It's fine. I'm They have to take pictures. Tell my part. Deja was charged with theft, aggravated assault on an officer, and resisting arrest. While some workers steal straight from the register, others are more inventive, like this next suspect. On March 6th, 2024, the police arrived after a report at a family dollar store. A 21-year-old female cashier was suspected of stealing the store's money in an unusual way. Her colleagues brief the cops on how her scam works. I know you called me. What's going on? Good afternoon. Good afternoon. We have an employee that is being under ringing like she will charge a dollar and let the customer leave this about $150 worth of merchandise uh multiple time during the month of January. multiple times in the month of actually a little bit in January, multiple times in February, and the last one was on Sunday. The police then talked to the suspect, Tina. Their arrival didn't surprise her, as she had already gone through an interrogation with her supervisor, to whom she didn't deny what she'd done. Apparently, she wasn't the most talkative person. 528 Stacy Road. This is Dina. Hello. This is the officer. How you doing? Hi. You have an ID on you? This is my purse. Okay. Where's your purse at? It's in the front. Okay. Okay. It's under the Okay. I'm pretty sure that formally you know the suspect's supervisor had video evidence showing Tina under ringing expensive merchandise for her relatives and acquaintances. She was scanning cheap items like lollipops worth only a few cents so that her accompllices would only pay that small amount. So this is one of the transaction all those items. Uh how much um the transaction? Yeah, that's 100. But how much did the customer pay for? 59 cents. 59 cents. So over 100 over 100 on that particular one. Pay 59 cents. So what's what was the date? Uh the day over there is March 5th at 12:21. 35. That will be Sunday. That will be the last transaction. 12:21. What's the next one you got? The surveillance footage captured Tina operating her modus operandi on different days with different customers over the last 2 months. Those customers paid ridiculously small amounts for items that were worth hundreds of dollars. That customer pay you did nothing. This is another customer that paid for So what was the date? Uh March 3rd, Sunday, 1956. So the other one was March 5th. Correct. And this one is March 3rd. Yeah, we're going Yes. Yeah. Third. Biggest question. We all want a prostitute. 100%. Yes. What the what was the time? Uh time is 1957. So 7. This is a lady with a pajamas. There's over $150 in here or more. And how much did she pay? 5950. Why did we calculate her when we look at the product over 150? Yeah. So, she said she's she's been going through some financial difficulties. And that's what she say on the on the video, I mean on the recording and during my statement that she was doing it for her kids. For her kids. According to the information from Tina's supervisor, she found her accompllices in the neighborhood. They paid her in cash to look the other way and let them walk out with expensive products, sometimes without paying a single scent. It was time for the police to hear Tina's side of the story. All right. Can you turn around for me? All right. So, I guess they already talked to you. No, you turn around. I guess they already talked to you. Who's that? That's my people. I I need to know what's going on. Okay. Um I guess they already talked to you and um and you talked to them about what's been going on, right? Um I need to get get a statement from you and and find out the same statement I gave them. I wrote it on the paper. I listen I don't know what they do, okay? My job is to I'm impartial. Okay? My job is to talk to you and find out what's going on. Okay? I need to ask you a few find out money from people and then arrange them up. Just give me give me a second. Just give me a second. Okay? I'm going to ask you a few questions and I'm going to you know you you watch TVs. I have to advise you of your constitutional rights. Okay. And then I'm going to ask you a few questions. Do you understand? All right. Tina knew perfectly well that she had messed up. She came clean when her supervisor confronted her and owned up to her mistakes. Still, after the cops read her rights, she wasn't too eager to talk to them. Any statement you make must be freely and voluntarily given. Do you understand? Is it's recording. You have to say yes or no. Yeah. I just feel like if I'm going to jail, there's no reason for me to explain anything. I'm just I just I want to say that I'm going to jail. I don't want to do that. I listen before I ask you any question I have to with your rights it's it's by law okay um you have the right to the presence and repres presentation of a lawyer of your choice before you make any statement and doing any questioning do you understand the officer interrogating her needed just a few minutes to get her talking believed that talking to the police wouldn't help her case that's why the officer interrogating her needed a couple of minutes to convince her to start talking. But what I'm trying to say is that I can't just go by what someone say. I have to talk to you and get your side of the story. Okay. All right. Um, how long you been working here? November. October. November. So, you've been working since October? October or November. Okay. Mhm. You part time or full time? Full time. Full time. Um, you work normally day shift, right? Both. Day and night. Are you married? Have kids? I have kids. How many kids? Three. Three kids. Eventually, the cop managed to get a full confession. Though not especially talkative, Tina was cooperative. Fully aware of the consequences, she revealed her scheme to the officer. Tina even admitted how much money she had charged to customers who took advantage of her fraud. Nobody threatened me. Okay. All right. Can you tell me what's going on? I just said I rang people up when they gave me money and that was it. And so you you charge them charge them less than what the value of the the the merchandise. Huh. How much you normally get from them? This all depends. 60 80 100 depend the person the I I don't know it's just different prices I don't know okay I hardly explain the same so like between $50 to $100 um these people that normally like do they know you or do you know them like the street the street like in the neighborhood around yeah Like, do they know to come to you or how does it work? If we're doing the same statement the man just took from me on a piece of paper. I I I what I'm trying to say is that I just I need to It's either I know them and they just come in to shop and they see me there and that's just what I do. I don't call nobody. Like I I I don't like that's why I'm saying if I'm going to jail, there's no point to explain all this cuz I'm going to go to jail with a migraine and aggravated as [ __ ] Like the officer continued the interrogation calmly. There was no doubt anymore about Tina's guilt. The only question left was the amount of money the store lost because of her scheme and how much she had personally gained in total. Okay. How long this been going on? Since you started. Since like January. Since January. I didn't do it the whole time. How much money you think you got total from these people? Like a couple hundred. I don't I don't know exactly. Like No, what I'm saying from from January like maybe that's what I'm saying. I don't know. A,000 2,000. Not that much. No, I mean just just a rough guess. 500 600 less. Like I don't I don't know. Every time I get money is gone. I don't know. After she gave her full confession, the officers wrapped up their investigation. They handcuffed her to take her into custody. That was Tina's last day at the Family Dollar. Hopefully, the next time she gets a job, this bitter memory will make her think twice before repeating the same mistakes. Okay, I can't wait till we get there. It's You're not You're not going to need it. No, you're going to be inside the cold. It's cold in there. I want to put that in the All jewelry off. And will your your pants stay without the belt? Oh god. I'm not even out of jail yet. After causing the store to lose over $5,000, Tina was charged with felony grand theft. She received 24 months of probation. Some workers might be content stealing a few hundred bucks, but others don't settle for less. On January 24th, 2024, police received a report from a car rental company. One of their employees was suspected of trying to steal a car after his shift was over. What's going on? A mis a mishap with the car. A what? A mishap with the car. Mish happened. I stored the car in the wrong location. Oh, okay. Is there a car? You work here? I work here. It's It's the company's car. So, where were we supposed to start that? I didn't know. I didn't want to know where it went. So, I dropped it off here and I went back over there and got another car and took it where I had to take it to. You took another car? Yeah, cuz I had to. Yeah. They let you take two cars in? I Yes, I Yes, I I take it to the airport. Okay. So, you say you work out here? Yes, sir. For who? I work for Avis Bie. Okay. The suspect described the situation as a quote unquote mishap with the car. But unfortunately for him, another employee witnessed him driving the car off the Avis budget lot and parking it in a different place while still holding the keys. It also doesn't make sense how one can make that mistake. Earlier today, I witnessed this car leave the lot. Okay. Park in this lot. He got out of it. Okay. Um, he just got off work and said that he had left the car here, left the keys in it, which the keys were not in it when I looked at it an hour ago. Okay. Um, got in the car that was locked because I came out and checked. There was no keys and the car was locked. got in it and we blocked him in before he could take off, but Okay. Uh I'm going to assume y'all want prosecution, correct? Okay. He's Is there video that we can get of that vehicle coming out here? Do you guys have that? He didn't drive this one out here. I didn't give him a chance. Okay. So, when you guys block So, he drove it from over there at 10:54 this morning. Parked it here. Normally we don't back cars in here. Okay. Um he got off work a few minutes ago. Witnessed him come out to the car. Okay. After I'd already seen him leave the car at like 10:55 this morning. He came out and he's telling me that the keys were in it. And I asked him what he's doing now and he said he was just getting in the car to Okay. So did So did you witness him get in the car at all? Okay. Yep. All right. Yep. After working at the car rental company for only 2 weeks, he thought he could pull off the crime without getting caught. The suspect tried to blame it on a random unidentified person who allegedly told him to move the car to an unauthorized spot. But with that, he only lost credibility in front of the officers. Okay. So what's going on, bud? Honestly, sir. Okay. I I transport cars. Earlier when I transported this car, when I got out the gate, my team had already left. So, they told me to park the car in PM. I just I recently just started working here. I didn't know where to park the car. I brought it over there. Who's they? You said they told you to. Who's they? It was a guy over there. It was over. Okay. Give me Give me a detailed description. All right. He He cleans out the parts. All I know is he came to me and said, "Put this car in PM." And I didn't know where it went. So, I brought it over here. I I've seen someone bring a car over here, drop it off. Cuz I didn't know where it went. I left the car here, went back over there, got another car, and went to go do finish doing my job. The suspect had parked the car in an unauthorized lot, and got back into it after clocking off without any permission. Although his story sounded wildly unconvincing, the officers gave him one more chance to come clean. So, you said you were already clocked out, right? I just clocked out. You just blocked out? I just clocked out. So, then they told you to get the vehicle after you were out of uh out of work or something? No, sir. So, what were you doing? What were you trying to do since you had already clocked out? I was I'm getting ready to go home. You were getting ready to go home? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So, why are you getting in this car? You You real You realize that this story, you know, you know what a submarine is, right? Yes, sir. You know what a submarine is, right? Like goes under the water. You know, US Navy uses them. You know what a screen door is, right? Oh, yes, sir. Okay. Screen. Your story is like a screen door on a submarine. It ain't It ain't making a bit of sense and it ain't holding no water. Sir, I I bought I bought the car. I'm telling you exactly what happened. I bought the car. I did not know where it went. I left it here, sir. I went I left the car here. So, I went back to fulfill my job duty. I went back over there, got another part like I was supposed to, and I took it where it had to go. What time did they tell you to take it to PM? Um, I dropped this off like around 12. So, I would say around 12 in the car. And been here, so I just got work. So, an unknown dude, white dude, black dude, Asian, Hispanic. Hispanic. Okay. So, unknown Hispanic dude that you can't give me a description of. Told you to talk and drop it off at PM. So, who who's your boss? What's his name? The suspect appeared unable to articulate a sensible explanation to the cops. The conversation so far was enough to conclude they were dealing with a worker who was stealing from his company. So, they had to do what they had to do. Tell you what what we're going to do right now. Face that fence. Face the fence. Okay. Right now you have a warrant for your arrest minimum out of San Antonio. We're confirming that. So you're not under arrest at this point in time, but you are being legally detained. Okay. You have anything on you? that's going to poke us, stick us, stab us, blow us up, anything like that? No, sir. Okay. Cuz he's going to patch you down real quick. Yes, sir. Um cuz like I said, you real you realize this story makes zero sense that you're telling me. Next, police spoke to the suspect's employer. The man confirmed that the worker wasn't supposed to move the car to a different lot. He had no authorization to do so. Neither from his boss nor from anyone else at the company. Was he supposed to bring it over here? He wasn't supposed to bring it over here. Has no business bring it over. How do you get it over here without the key? He drove it with He drove it over here, parked it, locked it, and then went did his job with the crew. And then after he clocked out, he came and got in it. We checked the car. It was locked. Windows. Has y'all seen the car over here? Oh, yeah. We caught it on camera. Oh. Oh, y'all seen it. But he had What key does he have? the key to the car. So, he got the key from where he got the only key. He brought it from across here across the street, drove it over here and parked it earlier today, locked it all up, and then got in the van and did his job. When he clocked out, he came and got in to take the car. Take the car. The witness testimony convinced the officers that the suspect had acted unlawfully. Without a good excuse from the suspect, it was safe to assume that his goal was to steal a company vehicle worth $60,000. The police had no choice but to arrest him for stealing at work. Well, tell you what, at this point, you are under arrest for what's called UUMV, unauthorized use of motor vehicle. I verified, trust me, I know these folks over here. I've been on more calls with them than my partner here actually for the time that I've been here that you aren't they they told me that you have been instructed that you are not under any circumstances to put a vehicle in this lot. I was not instructed. Okay, bud. I I'm not going to argue. I have dealt with them. I've dealt with them on some pretty unsavory stuff. Okay, I know their word is solid. Okay, so when they tell me that you've been instructed when you were employed that no car has come in this lot unless specifically instructed by one of them, that that's UMV. You were not allowed to drive that vehicle over here or anything like that. So, that's going to be one arrest charge. Then we're going to see what that warrant out of San Antonio does. So, you're going to have the warrant added to your arrest as well. Okay. Um, go ahead and stand up because now you're going to be searched. The suspect's troubles didn't end there. When the cops searched him, officers found a customer's wallet in his possession with a credit card and ID inside. The detainee did his best to explain how the wallet had ended up with him by mistake. Unsurprisingly, that wasn't enough. I was bringing all of it. Got that out of the cart earlier. Huh? Got that out of car? Yeah, that was in one of the car. Oh, you didn't turn it in. Hey, Cory. I really just just thought about it, honestly. Uhhuh. Cory. Cory. What's What's the name on that? So, was that driver's license that you gave me orig up on a warrant that that ain't yours? You know what I'm saying? That's why I'm asking. No, that that was in a car that we cleaned and I just I Man, we was moving so much that I just didn't turn it in. Is this your wallet? Yes, sir. This yours? Yes, sir. I'm just saying this your wallet. Can we possess somebody else's information? Like I said, I was cleaning out a car and I just I just so happened to forget to turn it in. You said you don't clean the car. We moved the car. I'm saying that was in it. We got extra stuff, too. Oh, okay. So, I mean, two pieces of identify information, credit cards. Oh, nice. Supposedly it was in a vehicle. He forgot to turn it in. Okay. Well, too bad. Clearly, it had been a very long work day for the suspect, and by the end of it, he was going to get the break he deserved in a jail cell. On top of attempted car theft, the police added another charge. You are also going to be charged with fraudulent use or possession of identifying information of identifying information. You said that you you found them in a car and all that. If you'd have turned them in, that' have been something different. So that's going to be we've been moving and they have processes that when you find stuff in the cars, you go and you turn that in immediately. We've been moving around so much today. So it slipped my mind, sir. Okay. And if you use them, then there will be additional charges follow. Okay. All right. I'm just giving you the heads up. Thank you. The suspect was charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and fraudulent use or possession of identifying information. On November 11th, 2024, the police were briefed that an 18-year-old grocery store employee was caught taking cash from gift cards. When the cops arrived on site, the employer told them what happened. since uh August 19th until November 5th, she has been activating gift cards without paying for them and then keeping the gift cards for herself and that's a total 17 uh 1,724.95 of losses that she has been causing. Okay. Um now she also said that she had taken about $300 in cash but I don't have any evidence of that. So that's just because she verbally also sign. Okay. What's the handwritten sign? Gotcha. That's her admission. Now uh I also have on a flash drive this along with all the receipts for all of this along with all the video for for all of this. So for all of this I have video on a flash drive. All the receipts on a flash drive. Okay. And this cell is also on that same flash drive. Okay. Thought if you wanted. After receiving all the information, the officer met the suspect in the staff room. The suspect didn't fool the police. She didn't even deny being guilty. She acted cooperatively and explained why she felt forced to do it. So, what's what's been going on? I've been taking money to buy stuff for me and my little sister for a little while. Okay. What's How old are you? I'm 18. I turned 18. Okay. You said you're taking it to buy food for your little sister and you have a little buddy. [Music] Calm down. What's What's the home life situation like? Is it Is it just you and your sister or is my mom? She works a lot. So, she's not really there. So, it's basically me and my sister, but she's with my older sister right now cuz my mom's at work and I'm at work. So, I'm getting arrested. So, you will be going to jail today. Who's out? You'll have to make a phone call from the jail. Okay. Why am I getting arrested? So, the your employer wanted to pursue charges. Okay. I wanted to pursue charges for real. Do you know the total dollar amount of money you took? I told you took that. How much do you think you took? Like a,000 maybe in total. Okay. A significant factor in her decision was the fact that her salary had recently been cut. Financial struggles are hard to navigate, but committing a crime is not the way to fix it. Although in tears, the girl described how she used gift cards to pull off her scheme. And how were you doing this? The first I just put cash and then I was just scanning the gift card. So you'd scan the gift card and do what? Just put in the amount that I needed. Okay. I've never been in trouble freaking out because I don't think you're gonna get me out. When did this start happening? maybe like a month or two months ago maybe. But it wasn't like an everyday thing. Okay. That's when they started lowering my pain and stuff. Okay. How many times a day would you do this? Probably like three. Three times with the cards. But I stopped taking cash. I just started doing the cards. How much in cash do you think you took? probably like 300 total. Stealing cash from the register and gift cards is enough to get someone in trouble. While the girl is mature enough to know this, the girl took the news hard when she realized she might spend the night in jail. Unfortunately for her, her employer was firm in their decision to press charges. You think I'll get out today? So, you probably won't get out till you probably had to spend the night and you'll get out first thing in the morning. You have to see a judge in the morning. Okay. Unfortunately, is there anything I can do so you won't press charges? Unfortunately, this is a couple months ago. After learning about her daughter's arrest, the girl's mother arrived at the store. It's tough to find out your kid is a thief. Even tougher to hear it from a police officer. The mother quietly listened to what the cop had to say. I'm going to give all of her stuff to you. Okay. I'll explain to you kind of what's going on. I don't know how much she explained to you. Um, but I guess she was caught stealing from from the business. I guess she was charging gift cards and pocketing the gift cards. She's been doing it for a few months now. I guess she also admitted to taking cash as well. So, due to the dollar amount, it does constitute a felony. So, we don't have discretion on it. She's got to go and they repair they persistent on pursuing charges. So if you'd like, you can talk to her. Yeah. [Music] Get me out of here. me up. Calm down. For the suspect, it meant a lot to get her mom's support in such a moment. Still, she had to face the consequences of her theft. She got caught stealing and she admitted to it. With strong evidence, the police took her to jail. Do you know your mom's phone number? Okay. So, give it a little bit. She'll be able to give you a phone call. Once you get there, you'll be able to talk to the booking deputies, okay? They'll be able to give you a little more information of the process. Okay? In the end, she had to learn the hard lesson that stealing is never right. Regardless of whether her intentions were good, we can only hope that this incident will stop her from making the same mistake in the future. On July 28th, 2023, police were dispatched to the Target warehouse. The reason, an employee had been caught stealing Apple products. When they arrived, a security personnel explained the situation to them. What's going on? So, we had a team member conduct about $4,000 worth of theft in the facility. Okay. He was admitted to the theft to sign a documentation just itemizing what he's owing. Okay. Very cooperative, nice guy. Okay. Um he's in in a room right now with one of our uh security staff. Yeah. Uh, they're the only two ones in there right now. Okay. I can give you the I will itemize list of everything that he said. Yeah, I'm going to need that. The suspect had already confessed to the security and loss prevention team. The store had surveillance footage that clearly captured him stealing the merchandise. Another employee showed it to the officers and also informed them of the suspect's name. He's going to come down this. This is on July 14th. Yes. Is that That's him. This is him in question here. Yep. And what's his name? Rim. I think it's Rim. I'm not sure how to pronounce the last name. Totally. But his MMO is just stealing it right off the shelf and then quickly driving. So that's him taking something off the shelf. Mhm. Can you rewind it? I want to see what was there. The Do we know what we took right there? So, that's one of the many case facts that he Rim may be skilled with operating his order picker, but not sly enough to avoid being caught on camera. The employee explained to the officers how they caught him stealing expensive electronics. It turns out the suspect wasn't wasting his time with cheap stuff. So we have this process where we go out and track our highv value products such as the Apple product and when we were out there a few times we notice it goes missing and systematically it still shows in location. So we run the tapes back and that's how we conduct our investigations. Okay. And we're able to So this thing that he's driving is called an order picker. Is that him here or is this him here? This is him here. Okay. And we purposely put our high value products back in this aisle and the other aisle that we were just looking at. So the MMO is that like they'll just go up to it on their order pickers. In this case, he'll just he's supposed to be putting away product, but like you see him take it and it goes missing in the time frame that it's reported missing, but still implication. Okay. And do you guys have an itemized list? I know he's writing whatever he's writing. Yes, we have a list. Do you guys have a list of of items that you know when you're saying? Do you have that? So, we have this whole this is our like evidence thing that we track. So, there Yep. That's him. That's him exiting. And then this is our evidence. So, iPads, five of them. So, five iPads. Okay. Apple uh watches 10 and then AirPods 10. So, so is this So, it's Can you scroll down? Yeah. So, it's 1649 times 5129. That's the uh total price. Yes. So total. Yep. Okay. 678. So 28. It's up to 4,24975. Stealing items worth more than $4,000 is not a small crime. After seeing and hearing everything they needed, the officers headed to the staff room. It was time to find out what kind of person they were dealing with. Log here as well, sir. All right. I just need your badge. And if you take your vest up as well for me, sir. And if you could hold traffic coming this way. Is this your bag, sir? There's nothing here that's going to hurt us. No weapons. And I before we move on with anything, employment status, he's terminated. Not welcome back. Not welcome back here. All right. You understand that? If you do come back here, there are charges that All right. Nothing else in your pockets. The police informed the suspect that his days as a Target employee were over. He was no longer allowed to enter the store. With that being said, the police proceeded with the arrest. So, right now, do me a favor. Sit down here. Put your hands behind your back. You want to come in with us. We'll get this stuff taken care of, get you out of here, and then um depending on what ends up happening from there, we'll probably be able to get you back here and get your car. Okay. Yeah. If I'm chant, you're just going to be released. Yeah. Chances are um we'll escort you back here. Get him his Get him his vehicle. There's going to be double lock now. Yeah. All right. Nothing else I want you I got to worry about, right? You jumped everything out. All right. All right. You're good. So, you're good right now. You just just relax. He's going to just check your bag. Make sure there's nothing in there. So, man, just give you a heads up, man. As well, guys. Rise you of your rights. All right. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against career law. You have a right to attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, won't be provided for you. Rim realized that no matter how discreet he thought he had been at stealing, Target's security team was still more sophisticated. It was time for him to face the consequences. The officers escorted him out of the store in handcuffs. Follow me this way. All right. Want to head right around to the right of the security. All right. Can't 46. Got one. All right. Right to the stop attention door. We're not going to go fob out. We're going to go right through there. All right. All right. Complaint. Rim was cooperative and therefore the officers treated him respectfully. The cops knew better than most that people make mistakes and sometimes serving your sentence is the quickest way back onto the right path. Listen, man. Everybody makes mistakes, dude. I'm not here to beat you up over a mistake you made or anything like that. They even said you were cool, cooperative. So, listen, man. That goes a long way. Thank you. Yeah. Think you can slide on over? Yeah. All right. And it's tight back there, too. There you go. After placing Rim in the patrol car, the officers transported him to the station. He was terminated from his job at Target. He faced a charge of theft of movable property between $500 and $75,000, which is a felony. On April 23rd, 2024, the police responded to a call from a 7-Eleven. The owner had reported $15,000 missing, suspecting that one of his employees stole it. Oh, okay. So, I have a 19 locations. So, this is the location that I'm having some issue. I just took over that few months back, right? Okay. So, every time they have audit inventory, you know, 7-Eleven, they do their stuff. I'm short short sure short sure short sure short sure short sure short sure short sure short sure short sure short sure short I trying to find what is going on okay it has to be you know according to our business most of the time is employee steal it not the customer steal but not right you know they still candy how much $1, $2 $3 right but I have a $15,000 shortage almost on how much $15,000 on 14,900 something right I don't have the report yet just estimated that I was trying to dig out. Oh, what is happening? Why is that? Mhm. From the cash on 19th, I think Friday. Uhhuh. I had $816 short from the register. Then I go, you know what? I'm busy guy right in the north. I said, you know, I'm going to spend some time and find out. Okay. Then one of the employees see that she took that she took $45 something. This is another video I have that I'm going to share with you guys anyway. All right. So I said, you know what? Forget the 15. This is what I have right now. I want to move forward with that thing. So I I I want the All right. So she right now we have today what we're dealing with is we're dealing with $400 and something. Yes. The owner was determined to press charges. He wasn't about to show mercy to anyone who had stolen his hard-earned money. So he invited the officers into the store where the suspected employee, Tamara, was still on duty. Hello. Hi. How you doing? I'm doing well. My name is Officer Damen Ferolo. I'm with D Beach Police Department. This is Officer Swanson. He's uh my buddy. Um the reason we're here today was because this is Russell. Do you know who Russell is? Yeah. This boss. He's your boss. Okay. So, Russell has concerns that you have stolen from the store. Okay. Upon hearing her boss's accusation, Tamara responded immediately, though with a startled grimace. Breaking the news to her wasn't that hard. But from that point on, her English suddenly deteriorated, making communication very difficult. So, I am required to warn you before you make any statement that you have the following constitutional rights. You have the right to remain silent and not answer any of my questions. Do you understand that? Um I what you have the right to remain silent and not answer any of my questions. Do you understand that? My your question? Yeah. Like in other words, if I ask you questions, you don't have to answer. Okay. Do you understand that? Yeah. Okay. So that's one of your rights. That's your first right. Any statement you make must be freely and voluntarily given. Do you understand that statements? Yeah. In other words, like I can't have this gentleman shake the truth out of you. You you speak English. Okay. Or do you need somebody in a different language to help us out? Uh um I'm not speaking here very well, but h I can do very well. Okay. Tamara claimed she spoke only Creel, but unfortunately none of the officers or staff had command of that language. Still, the cops gave it their best effort and patiently explained everything to the suspect once again, even though they weren't fully convinced she didn't understand English. I believe if you work in the store, you deal with people that are speaking English all day long. I believe that you understand these things that I'm telling you. If you need clarification on what I'm trying to say, I'll clarify it for you. I don't mind taking I I don't care if we spend the next half hour just talking about these things. I just want to make sure you understand your rights, okay? Cuz I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, okay? I understand this is an uncomfortable situation because of course we're here with your boss and you're being accused of something, but I want to try to make sure you just understand your rights. Okay, that's all we're doing right now. Basically, Russell, as we determined, Russell is your manager, right? Or your boss. Uh my boss. Okay. He's the big boss, right? I think he owns a bunch of these places. Okay. Russell has noticed that some money has been going missing from here. Mhm. Money. Money. don't they? All right. So, with that being said, Russell was very concerned. So, then he noticed one day that $800 and something dollars was missing. It was starting to become clear that she only pretended not to understand English. But even if she was telling the truth, she didn't have to be fluent in English to understand the surveillance video the police claim to have. He watched the video and do you know what we saw in the video? You know what we saw? Okay, I'm going to tell you what I saw. Okay, and then maybe you could tell me why. Okay, I saw you put $400 on a gift card that you then put into your purse. Friday. Friday, it's on video. You put $400 on a gift card and then you put the gift card in your purse. But you never put $400 in the drawer. So when you put the $400 on the gift card, that's like stealing $400 from the cash register because you put it on the gift card. She was suspected of a serious crime. Even with her poor English, Tamara still needed to provide some explanation for her actions. After the officers did everything they could to present Tamara with the facts, it was time for her to give her side of the story. However, she didn't get very far. But I saw that um I Oh my god, I lost. She just can't process it fast enough. I got a story. Well, she got a story. She's She's trying to figure out what we want to hear. I don't want you to tell me what you think we want to hear. You're a smart girl. I can tell you're smart and I can tell you understand me. Okay. So, you don't have to think about a story. You don't have to try to convince me that you can't understand me. All we're trying to ask is listen, we're trying to figure out why you put $400 on a gift card. She wasn't much more talkative than the wall behind her. Since they couldn't get her to give any explanation of her actions, the police tried another approach. They wanted to know if she was part of a bigger scheme. Who taught you to do that? What? Who taught you to go in the register and put $400 on a card and then take it? So, another employee here told you to do that or did you figure it out on your own? Another employee. Tamar, what? Okay. You you you're just asking us the same things that we're saying over and over. He's saying, in other words, did you figure that out or did someone teach you that you could scam the system by putting $400 on a gift card? Because I saw you had it written down on a little piece of paper. You didn't even have the gift card out cuz you were trying to be less suspicious. Do you know what suspicious is? You're trying to be less obvious. All right. Sneaky. Yes. Very sneaky. Sneaky. Sneaky. Tamara continued pretending not to understand a word the cops were saying. That's when her boss stepped in. According to him, he had spoken with her in English many times. So, there was no way her confused act was real. Don't don't stop like we talk all the time. Yes, I know. Yeah. Why are you stopping when we talk? She's trying to think of a lie. She's very busy. Very busy right now processing a lie. All you got to do is tell us the truth. Then we can figure it out. Yeah, that'll help us figure it out. If there's somebody else we're looking for or if we're only looking for you who showed you to put the money on the card, but that and then put the card in your in your pocketbook. Another employee here must have showed you. I don't think you're smart enough to come up with that idea yourself. I don't know. I think she's pretty smart. I think she's playing us right now or she thinks she's playing us. So, I have another question. Did you do that today since morning? Cuz I don't know what happened today. Today? Did you do anything like that? Any cards today? No. No. After so many attempts to get her to speak, the cops ran out of patience. Only when they threatened to arrest her did she try to throw together some kind of explanation or at least string a sentence together. So, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to be placing you under arrest. Okay? You're going to jail because of the crime. You're not really talking to us. So, if I can't really talk to you, I don't want to waste your time. I don't want to waste his time. I don't want to waste our time. So, I'm going to just put you under arrest because you're not talking to us. So, I'm going to have you put your hands behind your back. All right. But I don't know. But but I Well, we do know. You know, I know. He knows. So, I I tell you, nobody No, you tell you're not telling me anything. That's the thing. You're wasting my time. And if you waste my time, listen, I'm gonna I'm gonna be cool with you, but if you're wasting my time, I don't like when people waste my time. Okay? But I know I make my mistake. Okay? But I I can't I can't um um I can't. That's when the officer pointed out a few gift cards in her wallet. She still stubbornly failed or refused to put together a full sentence even though the looming arrest seemed to be reviving some of her verbal abilities. I just got a property in it lean view with it open like this. You can see several gift cards are just passing it. Do you understand the gift cards? It's this one. Huh? And this one is that one's yours. Copy. It's only one. It's only one. You sure? Yes. See, right now you're communicating real well. No, I I tried to understand. That's why I No, no, no, no. You're playing. Tamara gave no logical explanation for what had happened. Surveillance footage had captured her pocketing a gift card without paying. A couple gift cards were found in her wallet. With all that, the officers had no choice but to cuff her. Put your hands behind your back. All right. You got to put your hands behind your back. Turn around. You got to turn around. Put your palms together like you're praying. All right. You want to put your palms together like you're praying. All right. Let me see the other hand. You got to put your other hand. Put your palms together like you're praying. Your palms. Yep. Like that. No, Samaris, here. Face this way so it doesn't I'm trying not to be rough with you at all. Tomorrow is charged with engaging in a scheme to defraud. She was sentenced to 4 days in jail, 36 months of probation, and 120 hours of community service. It was late afternoon on October 11th, 2024. Police were dispatched to a local Nordstrom store because an employee was suspected of stealing over $2,200 worth of items. When the cops arrived, the suspect identified as Aurora had already been caught by her employer. So, this is Aurora. Um, she is one of our employees. We've been watching her for quite some time. Um, and she has taken from us. Here's a list of everything that she has stolen um throughout the course of a few weeks. It is uh $2,2545. Stealing from one's workplace is bold, but this suspect managed to take it a step further. According to her coworker, Aurora hadn't just stolen clothes worth over $2,200. She was also wearing one of her stolen outfits to work that day. She's currently wearing one of our items underneath her clothing. I think it's a blue romper. Okay. Um, how do you know that? Uh, because she admitted to it. I asked her, "Where is the romper?" Cuz we have the ticket and it's underneath her clothing right now. Okay. Um, so yeah, this is items that she took today. And then these are just items that she's taken throughout the week. Uh, shoes and and things like that. Okay. Um, we are going to need to get that back. But we have to step up that. Yeah. Um, and you said you have everything recorded. Yeah. Based on the evidence her employer had, things didn't look great for Aurora. It makes one wonder what could drive an employed middle-aged woman to steal merchandise from her employer. After the officer read her Miranda rights, the suspect shared her version of events. Any statement can and will be used against you in the court of law. Do you understand what I just read you? Okay. So, do you want to explain like what what's been going on or what happened? I I don't understand. You know, my my husband left me after 40. Can you look up just so I can hear you? Go ahead. I said this is crazy because I never did this in my whole life. My husband left me after 40 something years and I think I got I don't know. So what did you do from time to time? I I I took something and I I I give it to people. Okay. So you make a gift to make me feel good, I guess. I don't know. So what do you take from here? Yeah. What items do you like? What type of stuff? Doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. No, just to give away. Who do you sell it to? I didn't sell anything. If we look at it from a humorous angle, Aurora was a kleptomaniac philanthropist, stealing with one hand, giving with the other, like a female Robin Hood. But the female officer took theft seriously, as she should. She needed to get the full story, so she continued with her questioning. How long have you been taking items for? like 10 days or something. 10 days. How long have you worked here for? 6 months. And when did you start taking stuff? Like like I said like what has happened like 9 10 days ago. For 10 days. Okay. Now what are you wearing underneath that? They Oh no. I have here I can take it off. Is whose is that? Nordstrom's. Okay. Aurora's charity mission didn't sound convincing, so the officer wasn't buying it, especially while she was sitting there dressed in one of her stolen items. It was perfectly reasonable to think she was acting alone. And who do you give the items to? I don't know, but I just want to make somebody happy. Come on now. I swear Facebook Marketplace. No. I just on that I just Are you working with anybody like with these items to make extra cash on the side? Do you know the people that you're giving it to or do you just random like somebody just walking around that you've never met before? I go to my with my dogs in the park and you just hand talk with people. No, I talk to people and hand them clothes. I don't sick. You're sick, I guess. So, so you don't the stuff that you're giving out, you don't even know these people. No, but I see how happy they are. She stole gift sets, rompers, and other clothes. There was a slim chance Aurora truly gave them away to just random strangers. But the cops had the full item list. Some of the things on there sounded ridiculous, and the officers couldn't help but ask her about them. leggings. You just hand random people leggings. It's not leggings. They are socks. Like panty hose. Yeah. You just random people panty hose? No, that doesn't make sense, doesn't it? And I did. I think I need to see a doctor. For what reason? For what I did. H for what I did. For what you did? I guess so. Because it's not normal. It wasn't clear whether Aurora would get to see a doctor like she suggested, but one thing was certain. She'd be seeing a judge very soon. All of her thefts have been caught on surveillance footage, so they confronted her with the clear evidence. We're going to go have a seat. Like, do you mind? All right. Don't bring anything. The chair right there. So, we're going to show you some videos. Okay. Have you seen these yet? Right here. Aurora. Have you seen these yet? These videos. Okay. Oh, this is a Charlotte Tilbury. What are you doing with that box? Oh, no. Aurora. Aurora, can I get the lawyer? Yeah. If you don't want to talk, you don't I'm I'm asking you what you're I sign and I I want to pay everything back what I what I took. So, you're admitting to stealing and putting everything in your clear purse. Okay. Yeah. Is that you on camera? Yes. Aurora admitted she was the person on the tape. She had no logical explanation for her actions and confessed to the theft. With everything clear as day, the police arrested her. Stand up for me. Turn around. Turn around. Turn around. Yep. I checked her. Go ahead. Have a seat. Aurora was charged with retail theft exceeding $750. From a car thief to a teenage gift card swiper to a woman stealing clothes from the store she worked at and wearing them, we saw some pretty bold employees today. But their story ended the moment the cops showed up and they got busted for stealing midshift.