Four employees of the soon-to-be-shuttered McComb Sears store face embezzlement charges following the discovery of more than $17,000 in goods allegedly stolen from the business, McComb police said.
Detective Shannon Sullivan said the employees allegedly took items totalling about $17,840.
Patrick Strahan, who is over the store’s loss prevention department, reported the thefts last week.
Police arrested Sade Stewart, 26, 2001 Brookwood Court, Kentwood, La.; Charole M. Herring, 25, 817 12th St., McComb; and Devin W. Scott, 431 Sixth St., McComb, on Monday, and Carolyn J. Weathersby, 46, 1119 Pearl River Ave., McComb, on Tuesday. All are charged with embezzlement and have been released from the Pike County jail on $5,000 bond.
Over the course of five months, Scott allegedly took 10 flat-screen televisions ranging in size from 32 to 55 inches, worth a total of $13,890, Sullivan said.
He said Scott and other employees allegedly conspired with someone who approached him to get merchandise for a low price. Scott allegedly rang up items such as jeans and shorts while others walked out with the TVs.
Herring and Stewart allegedly conspired together to take two Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming systems, a GPS device, clothes, a Nintendo DSI, a Sony PlayStation 3 and games worth about $1,800.
They reportedly voided the more expensive items during checkout, paid for the cheaper ones and took the items from the store.
Weathersby, a six-year Sears employee, allegedly conspired with other workers to take a GPS device, Xbox 360, a PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, several games and clothing worth $2,145, Sullivan said. Weathersby reportedly scanned merchandise then cleared the information from the computer, and paid for small items in their place.
The store’s parent company, Sears Holding Corp., announced Dec. 29 that it will close the McComb Sears, although the date the store will shutter its doors remains unknown. Sullivan said he didn’t know if the alleged thefts were connected to the store’s impending closure.
