A cashier at a Target store in The Villages blamed “peer pressure” when he was arrested after allegedly providing unauthorized markdowns for his friends.
Ernesto Esquivel, 23, of Ocala is charged with scheming to defraud his employer following his arrest Wednesday afternoon at the store at Rolling Acres Plaza.
During an interview with a police officer, Esquivel admitted to voiding transactions for his friends between October and January. The store was able to provide surveillance images of Esquivel voiding transactions for multiple customers during the month of January. The voided transactions in January cost the store $422.85, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department.
Esquivel said he “fell into peer pressure” and had encouraged his friends to pick out merchandise at the store so he could mark it down for them or void the transaction entirely.
Esquivel was booked on $5,000 bond at the Lake County Jail.