Posted: 3/23/05 ********** theft ring foiled by Jake Muonio Staff writer Four women have been arrested on felony theft charges after allegedly stealing more than $87,000 from ********** in Elk River during the past year. The women, all former employees of the gas station and convenience store, would not ring in items or cancel them out and pocket the money, Elk River Police Chief Jeff Beahen said. One woman allegedly admitted to stealing about $400 a night. "It's very disheartening," said ********** owner **********, "We trusted these employees and they've become friends. When you've trusted someone and the evidence shows that there was something going on with the tills right under our noses ... It's a little humiliating." Fortunately for **********, someone became suspicious of the women and alerted the store's ownership. A tip prompted the business to hire a private investigator, who in a matter of days had compiled a paper trail behind the thefts - a clerk statistic report that wasn't often reviewed. "This wasn't that hard of a thing to catch, it's just that we trusted them," ********** said. "(It's just that) some of our most prized employees were doing things that were not morally right. "They figured out a way to manipulate the till. We had some new programs and new tills and they took advantage of it," ********** said. And it's not that the thefts had been undetected, but there were a number of factors that allowed it to seem less obvious. "There's been things we've noticed," said **********, the store's manager. "We've been able to tell margins haven't been as good on products." The thefts allegedly occurred over the past year to year and a half, ********** said. "For the last seven-eight years we've had very, very little employee problems," ********** said. "That's probably made us a little lackadaisical about it." According to **********, it appears that one of the employees discovered the method of theft, and taught the other three. The suspects, whose time of employment at ********** ranged from five months to about five years, admitted to stealing money between $800 and about $35,000 each, Beahen said. The suspects arrested include two 21-year-old Big Lake women, a 20-year-old Brooklyn Park woman and a 20-year-old Ramsey woman. "I've had customers that come into the store call me when they saw something not going right. That's common," **********. The incident remains under investigation, but all four suspects face felony theft charges.