Bedfordtimesregister.com - Police News: Store security officer alleged employee stole $1,080

Macedonia -- A 19-year-old Maple Heights man did not enter a plea to a fifth-degree felony theft charge April 24 after being accused of stealing more than $1,000 from the Macedonia Commons Boulevard store he worked at.

According to Stow Municipal Court records, the man is scheduled for a May 5 pretrial hearing and was released from Macedonia City Jail on a personal bond.

According to a police report, a store security officer alleged April 23 that the employee took a total of $1,080 from a cash register between March 3 and April 18. The officer said security video on six occasions allegedly showed the employee placing a rubber mat over the register after making transactions with customers. The employee then allegedly reached under the mat and took money out of the register.

Police said they arrested the employee at the store.

Theft

April 17. Man found guilty: An 18-year-old Mantua man was found guilty of first-degree misdemeanor theft April 20 in connection with the theft of a global positioning system device of unspecified value from a Route 82 store on April 17.

According to Stow Municipal Court records, the man did not enter a plea to the charge and waived his right to a trial. The man was convicted, fined $250 and given a 10-day suspended sentence.

According to a police report, the theft was discovered after an alarm sounded when the man left the store. The store manager told police he chased the man to a Macedonia Commons Boulevard business, where police arrived and arrested the man in the parking lot.

April 17. Man attempted printer exchange: A Twinsburg man, 25, pleaded guilty to first-degree misdemeanor theft and fourth-degree misdemeanor criminal trespassing April 24 after an employee of a Macedonia Commons Boulevard store reported the man tried to exchange an computer printer that he had not purchased for a video game system of unspecified value a week before.

According to Stow Municipal Court records, the man was sentenced to 180 days in Macedonia City Jail, with 172 days suspended, and fined $1,250, with $900 of that suspended.

The employee said that when he saw the man trying to make the exchange, he checked store security video and noticed the man was not carrying the printer when he entered the store. When store employees refused to make the exchange, the man tried to leave the store without paying for the printer, and the employee stopped him.

April 15. Men took clothing from store: Two Cleveland men, ages 22 and 26, pleaded guilty to first-degree misdemeanor theft April 20 after an employee of a Route 82 store reported the men took $190 in clothing April 15.

According to Stow Municipal Court records, the older man was sentenced to 90 days in Summit County Jail and fined $500. The younger man was sentenced to 10 days in the county jail and fined $250, the records say.

A store manager reported the men set off security alarms as they left the store. The men ran west across Route 8. Police said they found them in a Golden Link Boulevard business' parking lot and arrested them. Police said the older man was wearing some of the stolen clothing, and other articles of clothing were found under vehicles and in a trash can in the lot.

April 9. Girl reports theft at high school: A girl reported someone took a digital storage device of unspecified value from her purse while it was in a girl's locker room at Nordonia High School April 8.

April 3. Women tried to steal clothes: A manager of a Route 82 business reported two unidentified women attempted to leave the store without paying for $792 in clothing concealed in a child car seat box.

The manager said an employee warned him that the women were selecting large quantities of clothing and appeared to be putting them into the box. The manager said that when he watched the women go through the checkout line to pay for the car seat, he noticed that the box's lid was unsealed.

When he confronted the women at the front doors, he said they dropped the box and left the store. The manager said he opened the box and discovered the seat had been taken out and the box was full of clothing.

Police News is a sampling of incidents responded to by local law enforcement agencies. It is not intended to be all-inclusive.