Walmart Employees Stole $57,000 in Merchandise, Police Say

A group of Walmart employees conspired to steal more than $57,000 in electronics and other items from the Linden Street store from November until February, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday by Bethlehem Township police.

To perpetrate the scam, an employee working a cash register would pretend to sell an item, take no money for the sale, then walk the customer out past store security into the parking lot where the customer would then pay the employee cash—none of which would be returned to the store, according to court papers.

Only one of five suspected store employees was arrested on Monday.

Kristofer Herrera, 19, of 1737 Third St., Bethlehem Township, was arraigned on five felony charges—organized retail theft, retail theft, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property and theft by deception.

The most serious of the charges is organized retail theft, a second-class felony, which is described in the arrest papers as “organizing, coordinating, controlling, supervising, financing or managing any of the activities of an organized retail theft enterprise.”

Herrera is believed to be responsible for the theft of more than $22,600 worth of items from the store, including televisions, iPads, iPods, laptop computers, cameras, headphones, video gaming systems, games, DVDs, notebooks and cell phones, the affidavit of probable cause against him says.

According to the affidavit, one co-defendant told police that Herrera showed him how to make the theft by “fake-scanning” the items by using the price check function on the cash register and deactivating the security device.

The arrest papers said that Herrera was employed by the store for more than a year, worked in the electronics department and was responsible for his own cash register, which no one else had access to during his shift.

Herrera was arraigned before District Judge Joseph Barner of Lower Nazareth Township and released on 10 percent of $5,000 bail.