INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A cashier at the Vero Beach Wal-Mart on State Road 60 is accused of stealing an estimated $8,000 from her register over the course of months so she could her pay bills, authorities said.
Candice Jefferson, 26, of 12th Square SW, Vero Beach, was released from the county jail Thursday on $2,500 bond. She faces a charge of felony grand theft over $300.
Wal-Mart managers had been suspicious of Jefferson since August, when they noticed discrepancies with her register receipts.
The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office was called out to the Wal-Mart in the early morning hours of Thursday, Dec. 3, in reference to a theft complaint.
Surveillance video at the store showed Jefferson emptying her register in the electronics department at the end of her shift. The money went into a store-issued drop bag that she was to take directly to customer service and place in the safe.
On the way to the office, the video shows, Jefferson walks through a clothing aisle, switches the bag to her other hand and appears to try to conceal the bag under a sweater she was wearing, the case report states. She then removes a handful of cash from the bag and places it into her pants’ pocket.
Wal-Mart officials detained Jefferson and found $650 in cash in her pocket, according to the report.
Upon questioning, Jefferson told both Wal-Mart officials and investigators that she took the money to help “pay for bills and her kids,” the report states. Jefferson also said she would take handfuls of cash from the drop bags without knowing how much each time.
She estimates that she has taken around $8,000 in an unknown amount of time, according to the report.
