Last week, Framingham and Natick (Massachusetts) police arrested men who work in area stores who are accused of stealing from their employers. Each arrest resulted in admissions from the suspects and more than a combined $5,000 stolen from the two stores.
Retail thefts increase during the holiday shopping season, but Natick Police spokeswoman Lieutenant Cara Rossi said she does not have numbers to say if employee thefts actually increase during the same time.
“I can’t say definitively if there’s an increase in employee theft during the holidays but two factors that might play a part if there were an increase: people are under more intense financial pressure during this season and the stores most likely increase the presence of loss prevention personnel to meet the expectation of much larger crowds,” Rossi said.
The Natick theft occurred at Macy’s at the Natick Mall. Police arrested Isiah Morgan, 20, of 230 Oak St., Natick, after authorities said the store caught him stealing from the cash register.
Rossi said the thefts occurred on several different days this month, ranging from about $100 to more than $900 on Thursday for a total of more than $2,200. “It increased each time he did it,” said Rossi. “He got more brazen.”
In some of the incidents, store security caught Morgan opening up cash registers and taking cash out and putting it in his pocket. In another incident, a customer paid cash for items they purchased and, instead of putting the money in the register, Morgan put it in his pocket… The MetroWest Daily News