LINCOLN, Maine — An assistant manager at Wal-Mart on West Broadway was issued a summons Friday after allegedly buying $60.08 worth of goods with gift cards stolen from his own store, police said.
Andrew Crist, 27, of Williamsburg was summonsed for Class E theft in connection with the incident, police said.
Wal-Mart reported the alleged crime to Detective Mark Fucile on Friday. Store workers told Fucile they noticed Monday that six gift cards that already had been logged into store records as “used” or “returned” had been used to purchase items a second time, Fucile said.
They said they traced the purchases to Crist because he had used his employee discount card to buy the items. As an assistant manager, Crist’s responsibilities include taking used gift cards from the store cash room and putting them into the store manager’s safe, Fucile said.
The employee discount cards and gift cards carry traceable serial numbers. Store security allegedly traced the card use to two video games, a pair of men’s shoes, and a plastic tote that Crist bought, Fucile said.
They also gave Fucile a surveillance videotape that shows Crist buying items with a gift card, and Crist also allegedly signed a self-written statement confessing to the crime, Fucile said.
Fucile issued the summons to Crist after Crist told him that “everything he had to say” was in the statement and after reviewing the video and other evidence the store provided, Fucile said.
It could not be immediately determined whether Crist continues to work for the store, where Fucile said he had been employed since March 3, 2014.
A Lincoln store manager referred comment to the store’s corporate headquarters. Aaron Mullins, a spokesman from Wal-Mart’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, said that Wal-Mart officials don’t typically discuss personnel matters. He declined to comment further.
The stolen items included two unused gift cards carrying $20 and $25 and used cards carrying residual values of $5.72, $0.38 and $8.98. One card had been fully expended, Fucile said.
Class E thefts are defined as crimes punishable by up to six months incarceration and a $1,000 fine.
Crist was released on a promise to appear in Lincoln District Court on March 3.