A grand theft indictment has been issued for one of the three sales clerks caught stealing from the local Walmart store over the summer.
The former clerk, Brianna Frazho, 19, has been indicted on the charge of theft over $1,000 and will face arraignment later this month.
The teen was charged after a shortage of cash was discovered at her register. The shortage resulted in an internal investigation by the company’s loss prevention section. Officials pulled video tapes from cameras trained on Frazho’s cash register and discovered she was the culprit.
“She was taking a $100 bill and placing it in her pocket,” said McMinnville police detective Marty Cantrell of what was captured on film.
Other video clips showed thefts on five different dates ranging from May 27 to June 4. The total amount of thefts, according to Walmart, amounted to $4,100 based on what was viewed on the videos.
However, Frazho wasn’t the first clerk caught this past summer. Just weeks prior, Dakota McGowen, 24, was arrested for skimming $1,000 from the store’s cash register. She was also caught by surveillance camera. She is set for court this week.
Meanwhile, a third clerk, Nicole M. Melson, 23, was caught in August skimming from a cash register. Management checked the video bank after noticing shortages from her register.
Video recordings disclosed that on eight occasions, she took a total of $221 from the register, according to the warrant against her. She admitted to the thefts and entered a guilty plea to misdemeanor theft charges. She was placed on probation for a year and was directed to make restitution to Walmart. She was given a judicial diversion meaning she can have her record erased once her probation is over.
The persistent thefts at the retailer come despite the literally hundreds of cameras inside and outside the store.