newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — Three former Home Depot employees are accused of stealing more than $1,000 in cash and merchandise from the store.

Ross B. Benjamin, 19, Aaron Brown, 20, and Christopher J. Gibson, 19, all of Fairbanks, have each been charged with one count of second-degree theft, a felony.

Fairbanks police began investigating the men in early January when a loss prevention manager noticed several suspicious transactions on a register one of the men was working on. When police confronted Benjamin, he admitted that he and Brown had stolen more than $800 from the store during a period of several weeks in December 2007 and January 2008, according to a criminal complaint filed in court.

The pair also allegedly stole merchandise from the store, including a tool kit worth nearly $500 that Benjamin reportedly gave to his father. Brown also admitted to stealing a present to give to his father, according to the complaint.

Gibson admitted to stealing a water softener, which another employee told authorities Gibson traded to a woman for two bottles of alcohol, according to the complaint.

Police obtained security footage from the store showing the men taking cash and merchandise.

This is the second large-scale instance of employee theft at the Home Depot that Fairbanks police have recently investigated. In May, police began looking into an employee who allegedly stole a $153,000 government gift card from the store’s vault in September 2007. Authorities believe the man spent more than $20,000 from the card during a seven-month period.