A Petco employee is charged with stealing more than $3,600 from the store located at Rolling Acres Shopping Plaza.
Ricardo Fernandez Jr., 20, of Ocala is facing charges of grand theft and scheming to defraud his employer.
Between Sept. 14 and 22, he ran fraudulent transactions, transferring money to a credit card and placing some of the money on gift cards, according to the arrest report. The fraudulent transactions totaled $3,660.44.
A member of the store’s loss prevention team discovered the transactions. Fernandez admitted to the Petco loss prevention officer that he had made the transactions, according to the arrest report. He said he needed the money to cover this grandmother’s medical bills.
He was transported to the Lake County Jail and was released after posting $4,000 bond. He is due in Lake County Court for an arraignment on Oct. 20.
