Ohio Grocery Store Employee Accused Of Eating $9,200 Worth Of Deli Meat

An Ohio grocery store employee was accused Friday of stealing $9,200 worth of deli meat over the years, authorities said

Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Hale said the accused has been working at regional grocery chain, Giant Eagle, situated at 11031 State Route 212 NE in Boliver, Lawrence Township in Tuscarawas County, for eight years.

Reports said she has been helping herself to the deli meat, mostly ham, at the store for years. She would sometimes indulge on salami as well.

The incident came to the notice of the store’s loss prevention manager when he received a tip from someone that an employee was eating three to five slices of ham almost every day for the past 8 years, which led to him calculating the estimated money for the amount of meat she ate.

Earlier, there were reports on how the woman, whose other details were not disclosed, was facing felony charges due to the theft. However, Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office clarified the situation on Facebook and said “felony charges are unlikely” for the crime.

“While our office did take a report of the issue as requested by the store, no determination of charges has been made. The procedure is to send the report to the Prosecutor’s Office and they are the ones to decide,” the post by Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell said. “While my office does not have the authority to make the final decision in this case, I do feel confident that once all of the facts are relayed to the prosecutor, felony charges are unlikely.”

The post also said no arrests and “no formal filing of charges” regarding the incident had taken place till then, but the department did take a report of the issue as requested by Giant Eagle. The report was forwarded to the prosecutor’s office where the final decision regarding the charges will be made.

A Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Department deputy said the 28-year-old accused employee “was very cooperative” and admitted to the crime.

Another report claimed it was impossible for the woman to have eaten meat worth $9,200 since the highest priced ham at the store was at $9.99 a pound. As yet another report explained, for the charges to be true, the woman should have eaten 920.9 pounds of ham over the course of eight years.

This means she would have to eat 1/3 pound of ham every day. For that, she would have to consume about 10 to 11 slices of ham every day, without missing a single day in between all throughout the eight years. The price for a pound of salami is slightly higher, but not enough to make a huge difference. One Facebook user pointed out Giant Eagle “must sell some fancy-a-- ham.”