Springfield store clerk charged with embezzling

A Springfield woman is accused of giving away up to $13,000 worth of merchandise to her friends before she was fired from Peebles department store.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150220/NEWS02/702209944

Published February 20, 2015 in the Rutland Herald Springfield store clerk charged with embezzling By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A Springfield woman is accused of giving away up to $13,000 worth of merchandise to her friends before she was fired from Peebles department store. Chelsea Perry, 24, pleaded innocent to a felony count of embezzlement this week in White River Junction criminal court. She was released on conditions. Springfield Police Detective Patrick Call said Perry worked at Peebles in the Springfield Shopping Plaza for less than four months. She was fired in August when the merchandise giveaways and other problems came to light, Call said. James Daniel, a loss-prevention officer for Peebles, wrote in a statement that he flew from company headquarters in Houston and examined the Springfield store’s records after the local manager became suspicious of Perry. Investigators said in court records that Perry cancelled 410 transactions at her register during her short time at the store. They said Perry admitted cancelling transactions for at least two friends on a regular basis, allowing them to leave with the merchandise. The investigators said Perry admitted to cancelling the transactions of other customers without their knowledge and pocketing the cash. Perry wrote in her own statement, “I have been letting a few friends come in and (in exchange) for me not charging them for everything or taking money off (their correct totals) they would throw cash my way or give me supplies like formula and diapers for my eight-month-old son. I would also ring things up and cancel them and keep the cash.” She also wrote, “I’m so sorry for what I’ve done.” If convicted of embezzlement, Perry could face up to 10 years in prison.