MABTON, Wash.-A City of Mabton employee has been arrested on suspicion of stealing $22,000 from the city in a fake robbery scheme.
The former employee allegedly staged a robbery in the City Hall parking lot, according to probable cause documents from Yakima County Superior Court.
The employee left City Hall with a money bag containing about $13,000 in cash and another $9,000 in checks, reportedly to make a deposit around 11:30 a.m. on June 17, however, when she got to her car a male dressed all in black approached and demanded the money.
After giving the suspect the money, the employee called a co-worker out of City Hall and talked for about 20 minutes before calling 911 and reporting the robbery.
Mabton Police investigated the alleged robbery and analyzed video footage from nearby, which caught a suspect dressed in black enter the parking lot, but not the alleged robbery itself.
Video footage did show the suspect in a black hoodie and jeans get into the passenger side of a blue Honda Accord after the robbery.
According to probable cause documents, the alleged victim of the crime is believed to be dating the son of the registered owner of the Accord and has been seen at the home of her boyfriend where the Accord was parked for the past several months.
Co-workers of the alleged victim believed she was in on the robbery since it was reported based on her recent behavior, including being late and/or missing work for months leading up to the incident, and for not reporting the incident for close to 30 minutes.
The alleged victim also had knowledge of the deposit routine based on the fact that she had done it before, according to court documents and was arrested on suspicion of theft in the first degree on June 21.
