Name:
CARRINGTON, DESTINY FAITH
Date of Booking:
07/19/2022
Reason(s) For Booking:
THEFT BY TAKING – FELONY
Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the officer’s narrative report. We do not fix any spelling or grammatical errors. Any changes made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist.]
On 7/19/2022 at about 1921 hours, I, Officer Wilkins, responded in uniform and a clearly marked Villa Rica Police vehicle (2554) regarding an employee theft which had already occurred. Dispatch advised the complainant at RaceTrac, later identified as general manager [WITNESS #1], called to request the police and advised dispatch the employee responsible for the theft was on scene.
I arrived at RaceTrac and activated my in car camera system, as well as my body-worn camera, and left them active throughout my investigation. Dispatch originally advised I was to meet [WITNESS #1] at the front of the store but another on-duty employee directed me to the rear of the store, the employee only area, where I found [WITNESS #1] and the operations manager [WITNESS #2] speaking with the employee, Destiny Carrington.
I stood by as the managers spoke with Carrington, but I was unable to hear both sides of the conversation given the tight quarters in the storage area and the fact that Carrington was standing around a corner from me. I observed that [WITNESS #2] was going over the allegations with Carrington which included a theft of lottery tickets as well as a theft of cash from the register.
When I asked for the details of the incident, [WITNESS #2] said a regular internal audit revealed a shortage in the lottery ticket sales last night and a review of the transaction journal for Carrington’s register, in addition to a review of the in store surveillance footage, showed Carrington taking scratch off tickets without paying for them, scratching them off, checking them through the lottery system, and paying herself for the winners from the register.
[WITNESS #2] gave me copies of three transaction journals for Carrington showing three different payouts totaling $190, as follows:
Transaction #298310 7/19/2022 0042 hours cash $80
Transaction #298313 7/19/2022 0043 hours cash $60
Transaction #298316 7/19/2022 0046 hours cash $50
I included these transaction journal copies in this report under “Linked Files.”
[WITNESS #2] also gave me a copy of the inventory report showing a shortage in lottery ticket sales, totaling $318, as follows:
Item 69770 Billionaire Club -$56
Item 70559 New Super Max the Money -$56
Item 84243 Mega Jumbo Bucks -$113
Item 85191 Million Dollar Giveaway -$56
Item 85813 $25,000 Game -$38
I included these inventory report copies in this report under “Linked Files.”
I spoke with general manager [WITNESS #1] who said he detected a variance this morning of $318 while conducting an inventory of the scratch off lottery tickets, said variance occurring between the times of 2200 on 7/18/2022 and 0500 on 7/19/2022. This timeframe coincides with Carrington’s shift from last night and his investigation revealed she was responsible for taking the scratch off tickets and paying herself from the register for the winning tickets, placing the money in her pocket. [WITNESS #1] provided a written statement which I included in this report under “Linked Files.”
I spoke with both managers initially in the presence of Carrington and they advised me she admitted to the theft and they wanted to pursue criminal charges. I explained that I would like to speak with Carrington, if she was willing to speak with me, and asked if there was a quiet place we could use. [WITNESS #2] said we could remain in the storage area where we were already standing and both she and [WITNESS #1] would be willing to relocate to give us some privacy.
I told Carrington I was interested in speaking with her but given the circumstances, specifically that she was being accused of a crime by her managers at RaceTrac, she did not have to speak with me. I told her she was not under arrest and reiterated that she did not have to speak with me about the incident but she said she would like to.
Carrington said she’s been working at RaceTrac for about six months and is assigned to the overnight shift, generally from 2200 hours to 0500 to 0530 the following morning. She confirmed she worked last night, getting off around 0530 or so this morning. Carrington said she has “a thing” for scratch off tickets and admitted to taking lottery tickets, scratching them off, checking to see if they were winners, and paying herself from the register if they were. Carrington said she has done this in the past while she was working, but in those cases she paid for the tickets as she took them. Last night, Carrington said she did not have her debit card with her and was unable to purchase the tickets.
Carrington said her intention was to ask her father, who picks her up in the mornings after work, to bring her debit card with him so she could pay for the tickets she took. She even said she was keeping up with how many tickets she took and showed me a note on her phone she said correlated with how many tickets and of what type she took. Carrington showed me the note willingly, after I told her she was not compelled to show me anything on her phone. The note consisted of numbers, like 1-2, 2-3, which she said correlates with how many of which type of ticket she took.
Carrington said her father picked her up and was in a rush to get to work himself so she forgot to take her debit card back into the store to pay for the lottery tickets she took. She was called in to work early this evening, and her plan was to speak with her managers about the incident and pay for the tickets she took at that time. Carrington said her managers wound up approaching her about the tickets before she could bring it up with them, and has not yet paid for the tickets. She also said she has the cash at home she removed from the register last night and was willing to return it.
I asked Carrington if she was willing to provide me a written statement of the incident, again telling he she did not have to do so, and she agreed. I included her statement in this report under “Linked Files.” [WITNESS #2] was able to record the relevant surveillance videos with her cell phone and send them to me for inclusion with this report. I attached them under “Linked Files” and asked that she look into obtaining through RaceTrac corporate a higher quality copy of the videos via CD or USB device.
I advised Carrington that given the facts of the case, coupled with RaceTrac’s decision to pursue criminal charges, I was placing her under arrest and transporting her to the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office for processing. I walked her out of the store prior to handcuffing her to the rear, double locked, checking for proper fit, and placing her in the back seat of my patrol vehicle. I transported her to CCSO without incident and turned her over to intake staff.
I completed an affidavit for arrest, charging Carrington with one count of theft by taking, placing the affidavit in the patrol room for eventual presentation to the appropriate magistrate judge.
[End of Narrative]