By Susan Bromley

Staff Writer

Brandon Twp.– A 37-year-old Ortonville woman is facing an embezzlement charge after stealing from Dollar General, where she was employed.

According to an Oakland County Sheriff’s Office report, a deputy from the Brandon substation responded at 4:25 p.m., Oct. 17 to the Dollar General store, 1351 S. Ortonville Road, where he met with the store’s general manager and a loss prevention manager, who said that the suspect, who was also present, had stolen between $4,000 and $4,800 in cash, which was supposed to be deposited at the bank on Oct. 14 and Oct. 15.

The suspect told the deputy that last month she was supposed to take the nightly deposit from the store to the bank. She put a deposit envelope containing approximately $1,200 in her purse and forgot to deposit it for a couple of days. She then stated she had lost the envelope containing the cash or accidentally threw it in the garbage. She said she knew she was in trouble for not depositing the first money bag containing the $1,200, so she took a second money bag with another nightly deposit for approximately $1,300. She said she spent the money on her children, gas, groceries, and McDonald’s.

She said she wrote a statement for the loss prevention manager and offered to pay the store back. The deputy asked how she planned to pay them back, and the suspect said she would take a couple hundred dollars a night to try and come up with the original $1,200 she had lost. The deputy then asked what did she do with the money she was taking to pay back the original lost money and she said she did not want to talk about the situation anymore. She said she was told there was $4,000 missing and she was not going to take the blame for all the money, as nightly deposits have had several issues with being off, anywhere from $100 to $700.

The general manager said on Oct. 17, he received an email from the bank about the store’s missing deposit. He then verified with a teller that deposits for Oct. 14-15 were missing. He review store video surveillance and saw the suspect counting a deposit the morning of Oct. 17. He suspect an issue with her, as she was acting inconsistent with the store’s policy.

The case has been turned over to the detective bureau and a warrant package prepared for embezzlement against the suspect.