A recently fired employee is suspected of stealing more than $5,000 from Disc Replay, a Taylor video game store.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
TAYLOR – A recently fired employee is suspected of stealing $5,005 from the safe at Disc Replay, 14528 Racho Road, Dec. 5 using copied keys and the safe code.
When supervisors entered the store on Dec. 6, they found the building unlocked, the security gate open, the safe open and money scattered on the floor throughout the store.
Surveillance camera footage was reviewed, and though the man wore a mask, his voice, build and walk matched that of the former employee.
At 10:39 p.m. Dec. 5 a man is seen using keys to open the business door and security gate. He then walked to the back office and carried a safe to the front counter, where he is seen entering a code to open the safe.
As he was removing money from the safe, he dropped and scattered bills on the floor, and is heard swearing on the surveillance camera footage.
Based on the amount of money in the safe at closing the day before and the amount remaining, it was determined that $5,005 was taken.
The suspect had been fired the day before the theft when management noticed fraudulent activity in the store’s bank account. When confronted, the man admitted to transferring $1,000 from the store account into his account and $600 into his mother’s account.
Although the man turned in his store keys when he was fired, a manager believes he had already made copies of the keys.
Surveillance cameras at nearby businesses identified an SUV that was likely used in connection with the burglary. Using Flock camera technology, they identified the likely vehicle and determined its license plate number and owner.
The SUV was owned by a man whose daughter used it to deliver DoorDash orders. When questioned about her use of the vehicle at the time of the burglary, she became irate and uncooperative, and her father became defensive and protective.
A search warrant was obtained for the dash cam on the SUV, and it was taken as evidence. The young woman’s DoorDash order delivery history was being sought to determine whether she could have driven the ex-employee from the scene of the burglary.