Second woman accused of embezzling from Walmart in Pittsfield Township
Less than two weeks after a woman pleaded guilty to embezzling from Walmart in the 7000 block of Michigan Avenue, a second woman has been charged in the case, Pittsfield Township police said.
Samantha Jo Townley, 23, of Ypsilanti, is charged with embezzling more than $999, but less than $20,000, first-degree retail fraud and two counts of conspiracy. She has not yet been arraigned in court.
Townley is accused of conspiring with 20-year-old Christine Marie Hesterly, of Ypsilanti, to steal more than $2,000 in merchandise from the store between June 17 and July 2 while the two worked there as cashiers, police said.
Police said the women stole groceries, clothing, cosmetics and other items. In some cases, police said the two returned stolen items in exchange for cash.
Loss prevention officials inspected store receipts and reviewed surveillance footage before calling police July 8, said Gordy Schick, the township's deputy director of police services.
Hesterly pleaded guilty Sept. 8 to embezzling more than $999, but less than $20,000. She is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 13.
Lee Higgins covers crime and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at (734) 623-2527 and email at leehiggins@annarbor.com.
Comments
Matt Krause
Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 5:17 p.m.
HAHAHAHA that's what those bastards at Walmart get for stealing from its own customers, and employees!
Tom Teague
Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 4:46 p.m.
I have no direct experience with any store's loss-prevention unit, but intuition tells me that WalMart has very tight controls and is very likely to catch employees who try something like this.
pegret
Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 1:34 p.m.
As cashiers, did they have access to customers' credit card numbers? I just wonder what else these two may have been up to.
AfterDark
Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 4:30 a.m.
A lot of resentment gets generated by employers that show huge profits yet don't pay employees a living wage or provide health care coverage.
tinkerbell
Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 10:16 p.m.
I've worked for some pretty low wages but I never ever considered stealing from the employer.
Bertha Venation
Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 4:34 p.m.
I have a friend who works at Walmart and makes a descent living and has health insurance. I think they (Walmart) have tried to get better over the years, having such a bad reputation and all.
RuralMom
Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 1:19 p.m.
Well if they don't like the wage they are earning, then they need to put their energy into finding another job or getting educated enough to get a better paying job. Probably the same amount of energy and dedication it takes to be a devious thief and evade detection momentarily. How employable do you think they will be if/when they are convicted?
aawolve
Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 11:47 a.m.
Please. These individuals are free to develop the skills necessary to obtain a better job, and do not do so.
Sallyxyz
Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 3:18 a.m.
Once again, no photo. What gives with AA dot com's lack of photos for the crime articles?
Tom Joad
Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 3 a.m.
What a slap in the face to all the honest employees of the store who are probably under heightened scrutiny because of a couple of bad apples. Shame on you for stealing from your employer. You've got a job to do. Do it.
asymptote
Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 1:42 a.m.
how do you even get away with something like this? it seems like she would have been caught on some security camera taking the merchandise...
notnecessary
Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 4:11 p.m.
I have no idea if this is what they did here and am not assuming that it is so, but one way that cashiers steal and can get away with it like this is because as they are scanning the items they wave them past the scanner and put them into the bag. That's part of the reason for the loud BEEP so other people can monitor what's going on. The person that's "buying" the items does buy other items but gets some for free. Again, no clue or assumption that this is how they did it.
simply amazed
Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 1:39 p.m.
They didn't get away with it and there were security cameras which is how they were caught.
cinnabar7071
Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 12:16 a.m.
Its so much easier to just work for a living, I know its a pain in the rear having a job. But I never have to worry about whos going to raise my kid.
Gorc
Tue, Sep 20, 2011 : 10:57 p.m.
Niiice