Stop Laughing
New Member
Yesterday at Walgreens, I rang up this one woman while at register 1 around 12:20 or so. She bought regular items, nothing suspicious, and paid with a credit card, about $40 worth or so. After she's done, she leaves and I started ringing up the next customer. She came back in a few seconds later saying that her car had been broken into and asks to call the police. I dialed 911 and handed her the phone. It was a crime involving her, not us, and she could do a much better job describing it to the police than I could. While ringing the other customer, I overheard her say that there was a lot of money that she had tucked way under the seat that was gone and her driver's side window was smashed. After she was done, she went outside to wait for the cops, and when I had a chance, I called my manager over to alert him to the situation. The cops came shortly after that, and they asked me if I had seen anything, but I hadn't.
Today, the detective came back to check out our surveillance tapes of that time, and he noted how long it took her to leave the store and then come back in to report it, only a few seconds. He asked me again if I saw anything happen to her car, but I didn't, I never heard anything outside but her car was parked in view of the door. He also asked me if she acted suspiciously at all, and she was calm, even after coming back to report it, obviously flustered and worried, but not panicky or hysterical by any means. He also asked me what she did buy, and I remembered she bought pantyhose and a bunch of stuff and only 1 item on sale, and using that and our register logs we found the exact transaction. From what I've heard from the detective, he suspects her of stealing the money herself, it wasn't hers, she was delivering it for her employer or something to the bank. He pointed out that it was only about 3-4 seconds for her to leave and then come back in to report it (our surveillance cameras don't cover the parking lot, only the front door and select parts of the store), and her car was parked across the parking lot, and in order for her to discover her smashed window and the fact that the money was gone from where she said it was (tucked under her seat), it would've taken a lot longer to come back than just 4 seconds. I heard somewhere (I don't remember if it was from my manager, the detective or her phone call) that it was about $7000 in cash that was stolen. The only possibility other than her stealing it is if someone else knew she had that money, followed her and then broke in and stole it while she was in our store. There is no way this was random.
What do you think? Also, if you were me, would you have done anything different? I think I handled it well, and didn't get involved in it. If I had been watching outside, I might've been able to see something suspicious, but lunchtime is pretty busy at our store, and any time I get free I usually spend tidying up or watching the store for suspicious activity. I wonder if they ever catch whoever's behind it, I bet I'd have to go to court as a witness just because I rang her up. BTW, crime around our store is pretty low, the police are a block away and we have quite a bit less shoplifting than the average Walgreens in our district.
Today, the detective came back to check out our surveillance tapes of that time, and he noted how long it took her to leave the store and then come back in to report it, only a few seconds. He asked me again if I saw anything happen to her car, but I didn't, I never heard anything outside but her car was parked in view of the door. He also asked me if she acted suspiciously at all, and she was calm, even after coming back to report it, obviously flustered and worried, but not panicky or hysterical by any means. He also asked me what she did buy, and I remembered she bought pantyhose and a bunch of stuff and only 1 item on sale, and using that and our register logs we found the exact transaction. From what I've heard from the detective, he suspects her of stealing the money herself, it wasn't hers, she was delivering it for her employer or something to the bank. He pointed out that it was only about 3-4 seconds for her to leave and then come back in to report it (our surveillance cameras don't cover the parking lot, only the front door and select parts of the store), and her car was parked across the parking lot, and in order for her to discover her smashed window and the fact that the money was gone from where she said it was (tucked under her seat), it would've taken a lot longer to come back than just 4 seconds. I heard somewhere (I don't remember if it was from my manager, the detective or her phone call) that it was about $7000 in cash that was stolen. The only possibility other than her stealing it is if someone else knew she had that money, followed her and then broke in and stole it while she was in our store. There is no way this was random.
What do you think? Also, if you were me, would you have done anything different? I think I handled it well, and didn't get involved in it. If I had been watching outside, I might've been able to see something suspicious, but lunchtime is pretty busy at our store, and any time I get free I usually spend tidying up or watching the store for suspicious activity. I wonder if they ever catch whoever's behind it, I bet I'd have to go to court as a witness just because I rang her up. BTW, crime around our store is pretty low, the police are a block away and we have quite a bit less shoplifting than the average Walgreens in our district.
