Two members of a night cleaning crew at a Gassville grocery store have been arrested and charged with cleaning out the store in a way frowned upon by the law.The pair — 45-year-old Ricky Hilburn and 47-year-old Sherrie Williams both of Bull Shoals, were allegedly caught on video surveillance cameras taking items ranging from chocolate milk to a box of apples to a case of meat out of the store.
Hilburn and Williams both made appearances in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday and entered not guilty pleas to charges of commercial burglary and theft of property. Hilburn was ordered to reappear in Circuit Court December 14th and Williams on October 19th.
In one surveillance camera sequence, Hilburn is seen pushing a work cart with various cleaning supplies he might be expected to use in his job on the top shelf, while a box of apples stocked by the store can be seen on the bottom shelf.
At one point, Williams is seen entering the store with an apparently empty sack and, after a short time, exits the building with the sack filled to capacity with various items.
In another instance, Hilburn is seen pushing a commercial-type mop bucket on wheels with a case of cookies on top of the bucket out of the store.
The suspected incidents of theft were reported to the Gassville Police Department by a loss control specialist for G&W Foods, the parent company that owns the Gassville store. According to its website, G&W is headquartered in Willow Springs, Missouri and owns and operates stores under several names — including Sun Fest, Country Mart, Cash Saver and Hudson’s.
The loss control official had been reviewing surveillance tapes when he observed the alleged activity of the two members of the night cleaning crew. The alleged thefts caught on the tapes reviewed so far occurred on September 5th, 9th and 12th. It was after this review that the Gassville Police were notified.
The loss control official had indicated that he will review additional security camera tapes to determine if there were other instances of theft that could result in more charges being filed.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the company will calculate the amount of the stolen stock in the September incidents, as well as any theft that might be detected when a review of more surveillance tapes is done. The amount of the loss will determine the amount of restitution that will be sought in the cases.
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