A cashier working at a St. Thomas hardware megastore was arrested Thursday and charged with embezzlement and grand larceny.
The store manager at the Home Depot called police with a complaint about shortages at one of the cash registers, backed up with paperwork and surveillance recordings.
An employee assigned to the register in question was taken into custody. Defendant Jahmel R. Rivera was accused of taking $4,200 cash in different increments between Dec. 11 and Dec. 19.
Investigators’ records filed in the Superior Court Magistrate Division said by the time they responded to the scene, the manager had gathered register closeout slips and closed-circuit camera recordings and sent them to Home Depot’s Central Investigation Team.
“… Once (the manager) identified the thefts through Home Depot’s CCTV footage and the cash strip reports, he forwarded the information to Home Depot’s Corporate Office Central Investigation Team,” said Police Detective Tiffany Tyson.
Upon questioning, Rivera admitted taking the cash and offered to repay the store. At an initial hearing held Friday before Superior Court Magistrate Simone Van Holten-Turnbull said the arrest was justified and the charges could stand.
When Rivera appears at his next scheduled hearing on Jan. 12, 2024, he will plead guilty or not guilty to six counts of embezzlement and one count of grand larceny. Bail was set at $35,000, which the defendant paid to the court’s cashier along with a $5 processing fee.
