Employee at State College store stole thousands in cash and merchandise, police say
A former Nature’s Pantry employee is facing charges after State College police accused him of stealing about $4,800 of cash and merchandise from the College Township store.
Owner Michele Briggs and police reviewed video that showed Franklin Nzenang, 22, of State College, stealing money and items on multiple occasions throughout July and August, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed Thursday.
Nzenang scanned items as returns, took the money from the register and placed the items back on the shelves 11 times, police wrote. He also took items from the store without paying for them, police said.
An attorney was not listed on court documents.
“When you’re a small business and somebody that you trust has taken advantage of your trust, per se, there’s that whole thing of everyone who worked here, who has established a relationship with him, feels betrayed,” Briggs said. “It’s really hard on the morale of everybody because everybody’s really sad because they liked him.”
Nzenang was charged with one felony count of retail theft, one felony and misdemeanor count each of receiving stolen property and one misdemeanor count of theft by deception.
He was arraigned Thursday by District Judge Casey McClain, who released Nzenang pending his appearance at future court proceedings.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
This story was originally published September 26, 2019 at 4:18 PM.