Monessen woman accused of stealing $25,000 while working at N. Belle Vernon grocery
NORTH BELLE VERNON – A Monessen woman was charged Thursday with stealing money orders while working at a grocery store in North Belle Vernon to obtain more than $23,000 to pay family bills.
District Judge Charles Christner issued 90 counts of theft and 26 of forgery in a summons to Carrie Lucille Lutze, 40, accusing her of also stealing vacation time from her employer, Duritza’s Market, court records show.
North Belle Vernon police were called to the store about 6:20 p.m. June 22 to speak with its loss prevention officer and Lutze’s supervisor. They gave the officer a written statement from Lutze in which she admitted to stealing $1,827 in unauthorized vacation time and $23,180 through money orders, according to the affidavit supporting the criminal charges in the case. Lutze, of 8 Crescent Drive, was accused of writing the money orders in the name of her father and husband.
Police later took Lutze into custody and claimed in court records she stated she was the store’s assistant manager, and that she started working for the company in 2009 at its Foodland store in Monessen. She said she was promoted to assistant manager three years ago, that she had been in charge of the cash registers and the front office at Duritza’s in the borough.
She allegedly admitted to printing the money orders because her husband’s company had been sold. He lost hours and they were unable to pay their bills.
“Mrs. Lutze said that she intended to pay the money back, but things got out of control,” the affidavit alleges.
She also said her father had cancer and that she used some of the money orders to pay his home heating bills. Lutze also claimed her father and husband were unaware she was using their names on the money orders, police allege.
Lutze also admitted to police she had been arrested before for stealing more than $10,000 from an employer while she worked at a Greensburg service station. Court records show she pleaded guilty in 2003 to charges filed by Greensburg police of theft and receiving stolen property, and was sentenced to probation for more than five years.