A FRONT-END manager at a Kroger is accused of stealing $44,000 in cash from her location over a four-month-long period.
Kimberly Summers was arrested on December 17 after admitting that she had pocketed $4,000 from Kroger’s self-checkout registers, police said.
Sheriff deputies in Columbia County were summoned to the Kroger store in Grovetown, Georgia, which is located approximately 12 miles west of Augusta. This was prompted by a review of surveillance footage from December 4 by the store’s loss prevention team, which reportedly captured Summers in the act.
When confronted by a loss prevention office and another store manager, Summers admitted to taking $4,000, according to The Augusta Chronicle.
Summers told the store officials she “needed money and was short on cash,” the outlet reported.
The brazen employee reportedly added, “She started helping herself to a few hundred dollars from the machine every time she moved the money.”
Summers reportedly said she had been swiping money from the store’s self-checkout registers since August.
She claimed she had only taken $4,000 and was unaware of the reported $44,000 amount, according to the outlet.
FAMILY AFFAIR
Over the summer, another Kroger employee at one of the company’s locations in Newnan, Georgia, was arrested for allegedly giving her family and friends cash and free gas.
Miracle Crawford, 19, was arrested on July 2 after Kroger’s loss prevention officers said the employee was caught on surveillance footage not depositing cash from the till into the safe like she was supposed to.
Instead, loss prevention officials said Crawford would leave the money outside for her family members to pick up.
Store officials told Newnan police that Crawford would “act like she was dropping money” from the cash register into the safe to deceive the surveillance cameras.
However, Crawford was bagging up the money and placing it outside the store, where her family members would scoop it up, police said.
The money was then picked up by the employee’s sister, Precious Crawford.
Newnan police arrested Crawford, her sister, and her friend, Anrenez Andrews.
Authorities said Crawford would allow Andrews to get gas at the Kroger location without paying.
In one instance, Andrews was allowed to pump $70 worth of gas in his car free of charge.
All three suspects were charged with theft by taking.
Latest self-checkout changes
Retailers are evolving their self-checkout strategy in an effort to speed up checkout times and reduce theft.
Walmart shoppers were shocked when self-checkout lanes at various locations were made available only for Walmart+ members.
Other customers reported that self-checkout was closed during specific hours, and more cashiers were offered instead.
While shoppers feared that shoplifting fueled the updates, a Walmart spokesperson revealed that store managers are simply experimenting with ways to improve checkout performance.
One bizarre experiment included an RFID-powered self-checkout kiosk that would stop the fiercely contested receipt checks.
However, that test run has been phased out.
At Target, items are being limited at self-checkout.
Last fall, the brand surveyed new express self-checkout lanes across 200 stores with 10 items or less for more convenience.
As of March 2024, this policy has been expanded across 2,000 stores in the US.
Shoppers have also spotted their local Walmart stores restricting customers to 15 items or less to use self-checkout machines.
